Forget the PlayStation 4 - at least 2 major games are already being made for 'next generation' game consoles

"We're also building toward the game after that," Howard said. "And it's the one you keep asking about."

In a brief video depicting a sprawling landscape, Bethesda teased "The Elder Scrolls VI" — the next game in the "Elder Scrolls" series, and the first since 2011's "Skyrim." 

"The Elder Scrolls VI" is planned for after "Starfield," which is itself years away. 

"It's very early. Very early," Howard told GameSpot. "It's in the concept and design [stage] — this is what it is, this is what it will be, these are some of the parts it will have."

There is no announced launch window for "The Elder Scrolls VI," but we can guess based on Howard's statements that it's anywhere from three to six years away. Of all the games listed here, it appears to be earliest in production.

"Cyberpunk 2077" has been in the works for years, and it's entirely possible that it arrives on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Given the latest trailer, though, the game looks just as likely to arrive on next-generation consoles.

The game has no announced platforms, and looks — frankly — unbelievable. 

In the literal sense of the word, "Cyberpunk 2077" is too unbelievably pretty and detailed for modern consoles. Perhaps the more powerful PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles could power the game, but it seems unlikely on the nearly five-year-old original PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles.

Then again, the game was shown off at Microsoft's Xbox One briefing. With no release date and no official word from the game's creators (we asked), this one is less certain to be a "next-generation" game.

The new "Halo" game Microsoft debuted last Sunday wasn't actually a game. It's a conceptual demo — an "engine demo," intended to show off the new Slipspace Engine software that was built to create "Halo Infinite."

A new game with that name is in development, but it sounds mighty early.

"We still have a long way to go until we ship the game," 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee said in a blog post this week. Moreover, what's shown in the debut video isn't necessarily part of the upcoming game. The new game will feature series protagonist Master Chief as the main playable character, and will continue the story from "Halo 5: Guardians." 

Lee also said the new "Halo" game will take advantage "of the full power of the Xbox One family." Microsoft isn't saying when or where "Halo Infinite" will launch.

If you thought "Halo Infinite" sounded early in development, imagine how early the games are from Microsoft's new Santa Monica-based studio, The Initiative. 

The studio is tasked with creating new franchises for the Xbox brand — the next "Halo," "Gears of War," or "Forza Motorsport." And whatever that studio is working on isn't likely to arrive any time soon.

The same could be said for Microsoft-owned Playground Games, the British studio behind the "Forza Horizon" arcade-style racing series. Playground is getting a major investment from Microsoft that allows it to build a second team devoted to creating new games. Like The Initiative, Playground's second game is unlikely to be ready very soon — games take years to develop, and that's when you've already got an idea to run with.