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Elder Scrolls and Fallout devs Bethesda want to release games more often, but making them last is more importantAlso, Todd Howard ain’t retiring anytime soon
Also, Todd Howard ain’t retiring anytime soon
Image credit:Microsoft
Image credit:Microsoft
Bethesda Games Studios are thinking about how they can release games more frequently while still ensuring that they have a healthy audience for years, the Elder Scrolls company’s king wizard Todd Howard has remarked in an interview with Kinda Funny, from which Alice B has already scientifically extracted some titbits aboutforthcoming Starfield expansion Shattered Space.
He conceded, however, that “they do take a long time, and so I think one of the things that that we’re focused on here is obviously making sure of the highest quality, but also you know, finding ways to increase our output, because we don’t want to wait that long either, right - it’s never our plan. But we want to make sure that we get it right, and so my hope is to do it kind of as long as possible. I have no plans of retiring or anything like that.”
There are approximately nine years between the launch dates ofFallout 4andStarfield. The latter saw frequent delays - as, in fairness, did many blockbuster videogames created during the pandemic lockdowns. Hence Bethesda’s reputation for taking their time, but ‘twas not ever thus: they released two numbered Elder Scrolls titles andFallout 3during the noughties, with the immortalSkyrimlanding shortly after the turn of the decade. Since then, thecost and complexity of videogame blockbusters has risen dramatically, with five year development periods not uncommon, and games often landingwell after their core concepts have fallen behind the trend.
That’s some back-of-the-napkin commentary, anyway: as Starfield’s design director Emil Pagliarulo put it on Xitter earlier this month, “development times can vary for a variety of reasons”. Regarding Starfield, he added that “we spent a lot of time updating and developing tech. We also paused for a bit to assist withFallout 76.” In a subsequent tweet, Pagliarulo stressed the importance of giving teams time to cook. “We can’t do everything at once. Institute scientists are hard at work on cloning initiatives!”
It’s a good question. A complicated question. Not specific to any of our games, but development times can vary for a variety of reasons. On Starfield, we spent a lot of time updating and developing tech. We also paused for a bit to assist with Fallout 76.— Emil Pagliarulo (@Dezinuh)April 15, 2024
It’s a good question. A complicated question. Not specific to any of our games, but development times can vary for a variety of reasons. On Starfield, we spent a lot of time updating and developing tech. We also paused for a bit to assist with Fallout 76.
Bethesda Game Studios have made a bunch of other things since Fallout 4’s release, of course. In the Kinda Funny interview, Howard went on to talk up resurgent MMO Fallout 76, which came out in 2018 andhas been doing well in the wake of the Fallout TV show. “A lot of people dismissed it from how it launched, understandably, [but] it’s kind of been sneaky popular for the last, you know, three or four years, and seeing all that attention come onto 76 now, and people coming in and saying they’re really really enjoying this as a Fallout experience,” he said.
Bethesda have five separate teams internally, according to Howard, spread across Starfield, the Fallout series, mobile projects, and (drum roll)The Elder Scrolls 6, which still doesn’t have a release date, though Bethesda have recently beenteasing us with talk of playing “early builds”. Given how much numbered Bethesda projects tend to suck oxygen away from other developers at release, I’m happy to wait, but Iwouldquite like to play the thing before I myself am in my 50s. If you’re feeling less patient, there’s alwaysElder Scrolls Online. OrThe Axis Unseen.
