The words many gamers have been begging to hear since 2006 are finally here: the next chapter in The Elder Scrolls series is finally coming!

Last night at Spike TV‘s Video Game Awards, Bethesda Softworks’ Todd Howard made an appearance to announce the game that the studio has been working on in secrecy for quite a while now. It was a sure bet that the game would either be a follow-up to ’06′s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, or a brand new original title. And though an original game from Bethesda would be exciting, nothing could top the confirmation of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Not only was Skyrim finally confirmed after four years of waiting, but a brief preview trailer complete with the game’s release date was also shown, making up for all the impatient waiting we’ve been doing. Thankfully, the release date isn’t all that far away either, meaning we can officially flip out about this game now!

Be sure to click on over to the other side to watch the preview trailer for The Elder Scrolls V now!

I get excited about a lot of games, but there’s only one title I’ve needed since completing Oblivion, which instantly became one of my all-time favorites, and it’s this one. With the great Fallout 3 coming out in 2008 and Fallout: New Vegas coming just recently this year, a new Elder Scrolls felt like it had been skipped over and in-turn, made the wait even more painful.

With great happiness, I can now say that none of that matters anymore. Skyrim is on the way, and here’s the first peek.

Trailer