'To say, I saved the world – that's the magic of games': Bethesda's Todd Howard

With a background including Elder Scrolls, Fallout and forthcoming epic Starfield, how does the acclaimed developer see games in the next five years?

[potatoseal]

16 times the detail

[JCOLE13195]

It just works.

[phoenixwing]

Revolutionary AI (He makes this claim for each elder scrolls when they're just dialogue trees and brain dead.)

[ecchiless]

thats the real magic, having 16 times the detail and make the game looks like sht, thats magic!!!

[ajax17]

almost heaven

[Games1st]

"When you play a game and you accomplish something, that’s real. It’s a real accomplishment in your life, or it has been to me, and to other people I meet who love gaming. You can finish the week and say, ‘I saved the world’, and you legit feel that way. That’s the magic.”

[abstractel]

urgh...

[phoenixwing]

On topic: less talk more work on elder scrolls 6 because we all know there will be bugs.

[anast]

To say, "I purposely send out subpar products and charge full price — that's the magic of Bethesda."

[BrainSyphoned]

Horse armor did radically change the world.

[blacktiger]

lol!!!!!!

[Vanfernal]

But can you save Fallout 76?

[Rachel_Alucard]

His mind has always been in the right place, his execution has been just terrible not entirely due to him, but to the teams he uses for the things like quest design, writing, and the combat designers. It seems like they just keep less then 100 people and try to do everything quickly but it ends up coming off shallow. Nothing will ever be more shallow to me then the marriage procedure in Skyrim, where all you do is a simple fetch quest and then wear a medallion and now you can get married.

[WelkinCole]

lol Been gaming for 35 years now. Never once thought I did saved the world with gaming.

I am just a simple guy that gets entertainment from gaming. That's all there is for me.

[Fonsecap]

I couldn't agree more with you, 30 years of gaming and never felt like a saved anything, I just had fun. Guys like Todd here, quite often start with the right foot but throughout the years they start to become "corporated", influenced by the suits, by the money and with the success they start to think that they can predict something and always make the same mistake, confusing what casual gamers want and what gamers want

[Aussiesummer]

Americans really are something else. Wtaf.

[Kerppamaister]

This guy. He likes to talk. I think he might be the next Peter Molyneux.

[Zhipp]

He's been around just add long as Molyneux, so I don't think it's fair to call him the "next". More like brother from another mother.

To be fair, though, Todd Howard normally comes closer to delivering on his lofty promises than Molyneux ever did. That's probably why he's still around and respected while Peter is long since gone.

[Kerppamaister]

Yeah, you maybe right. But he oversells his games, too, a little bit.

[gold_drake]

Delusion, convince yourself xD

[EazyC]

This is somewhat painful to read as it has been exactly that approach - the 'I saved the world' plot which has stymied the narrative and storybuilding of Bethesda games for years now. It actually gives a lot of insight into their approach to world design.

You know, I kinda wonder if Howard believes what he says or if it's just corporate guff ('That's the magic' as he says in the article), but if it's the former then he's going to become a dinosaur in games industry VERY soon.

Conversely, look at another AAA title like Red Dead 2's story...it actually takes the antithetical approach: you can change one person's life (but even that is an improbability)...but you can't change nature. Absolutely heartbreaking because it speaks to a real human experience, and left me thinking for days afterwards.

[Neo111]

The thing is, I don't want to save the world for the 100th time. It was good when I was 15, now I prefer an engaging, interesting and moving story with incredible characters and a complex world ... Exactly what CDPR does.I haven't gotten this from Bethesda since Skyrim (and even then it wasn't so great...)...

[bb14z]

IF THIS IS THE CASE WHY DID BETHESDA DESTROY MORROWIND?! AFTER ALL THE HUNDREDS OF HOURS WE PUT INTO SAVING THAT WORLD!! BESTHESDA SPITEFULLY DESTROYED MORROWIND TO STOP THE COMPARISONS TO NEWER GAMES!!

https://elderscrolls.fandom...

[bb14z]

*potentially