No announcement. No marketing campaign. Just a surprise release. The Elder Scrolls franchise has expanded with a new game called The Elder Scrolls: Castles. Although it’s not The Elder Scrolls VI that fans have been eagerly waiting for, this new addition to the fantasy universe is a unique experience that puts players in control of a medieval dynasty.

Currently available as a free download on the Google Play Store in early access, The Elder Scrolls: Castles allows players to oversee a castle of subjects and family members as the years pass by. It’s important to note that the game is only available on Android devices and has not been officially announced or released on other platforms.

From the screenshots, The Elder Scrolls: Castles bears resemblance to Fallout Shelter, a popular mobile game developed by Bethesda. Players are tasked with building and managing their castle, similar to how players manage their Vaults in Fallout Shelter. The game also features epic quests and battles against colossal beasts like a red dragon. Additionally, players will have to make decisions that impact their dynasty, even if it involves seemingly trivial matters like someone’s musical talent.

This isn’t the first time that The Elder Scrolls has ventured into the mobile gaming realm. In 2017, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a card game spin-off, was released for mobile and PC. Although the game is still playable, it no longer receives new updates. The Elder Scrolls: Blades, a first-person dungeon crawler, made its debut in 2019 and continues to receive content updates as of January 2022.

While fans eagerly await The Elder Scrolls VI, the next installment in the mainline RPG series, they’ll have to exercise patience. In a recent Federal Trade Commission hearing, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that The Elder Scrolls VI is still “five-plus years away” from completion. However, the good news is that development for the highly anticipated game has officially begun, even though it’ll be several years before more information is disclosed. In the meantime, Bethesda has released their new IP, Starfield, which has already attracted over 10 million players.