Bethesda Game Studios bets on single player games

Bethesda Game Studios, the developer behind The Elder Scrolls, Starfield, and modern Fallout, is still “absolutely” committed to single-player games, according to creative director Todd Howard, but that doesn’t mean it won’t experiment with adding social elements. to solo experiences.

Speaking during an IGN Unfiltered episode covering Skyrim’s 10th anniversary, Starfield, The Elder Scrolls 6, and more, Howard was asked if, after making Fallout 76 massively multiplayer, the studio was still focused on making games for a single player.

Howard replied, “Absolutely,” and then added, “It’s part of who we are, it’s what we love about games.” From what little we know about each project, the next two BGS games, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, will likely be single-player games in the vein of the developer’s most beloved work.

Howard pointed to the fact that even the studio’s big multiplayer experiment added an expansion that made single-player play easier: “With Fallout 76, once we add Wastelanders and those kinds of missions, the number of people who want to play it as a solo experience is very, very strong. ” Wastelanders was a free update that added human NPCs, a new story, and more of what we said that made the game start to “feel like a real Fallout game.”

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However, Howard clearly sees opportunities to allow for player-to-player interaction of some kind within the margins of a traditional single-player game. “There are a number of ways you can talk about adding social elements to a game that I don’t think take away from you. [the solo experience]”he added.” We’ve dabbled in some of that and we don’t post it, or things on paper, things that we’d like to test in our games. So I don’t want to rule that out. “

Howard didn’t go into detail on what those social elements might be, but you could look into Death Stranding how social elements can affect a single-player open world. Hideo Kojima’s game saw players collaborate to build structures and provide clues for others as they traveled their world alone. Starfield or The Elder Scrolls 6 may similarly reflect the effect of many players venturing alone.

That said, it appears that for now, Howard and his team are ready to return to more familiar waters with their upcoming games. “Fallout 76 has really turned out to be a great experience for us, and a great learning,” he explained, “but our passion is behind: ‘Who are you going to be? This world is for you, make it yours.'”

Howard talked about much, much more in his IGN Unfiltered interview, including why Starfield was a “now or never” project, and about the fact that there is an idea for Fallout 5, but that it probably won’t come true deep down. of many years.

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s executive news editor. Follow him on Twitter. Do you have any advice for us? Do you want to discuss a possible story? Send an email to [email protected].