The Elder Scrolls Never Got a Spin-Off Because Todd Howard is 'Very Protective' of It - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 14 hours ago / 864 Views
Former Bethesda Designer Kurt Kuhlmann in an interview with FRVR explained the reason there was never a spin-off title for The Elder Scrolls like Fallout: New Vegas is because Todd Howard is "very protective" of the franchise.
"The whole New Vegas thing did create this, at least the perception of this, 'who makes a better Fallout game?' Oh, they should just give it to Obsidian,'" Kuhlmann said. "There are the Obsidian, New Vegas people that think obviously New Vegas is way better, Obsidian is way better at making those games, and why don't they just get Fallout altogether."
He added, "Todd, from my time there, he is very protective of it. I do think ESO took the heat off… there was a new Elder Scrolls product and it was ongoing. It was creating new content constantly. There are a lot of people, I mean, I know the single-player people, I'm one of those people–but there are a lot of people to whom The Elder Scrolls is now ESO. That's their experience with it. That's what they love. That’s where they got their Elder Scrolls gaming experience, and that’s probably what they want more of."
Bethesda is currently focused on developing The Elder Scrolls VI, while Obsidian is developing a new entry in the Fallout series.
Kuhlmann was a senior designer on Fallout 3 and 4, and was the co-lead designer on The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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I respect this... but Jesus bro, ESO wasn't good enough to hold us over for 15+ years
Makes sense, but I'm guessing Microsoft is going to take that protection away from Bethesda.
At this point Todd Howard likely only has two more games in him before he retires with how long games take to develop now. The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5.
Obsidian has been put on a new side Fallout game. If Microsoft wants more Elder Scrolls I do wonder what studio would be put on it. InXile, maybe? Or possibly the main Bethesda studio will grow big enough to have two main teams.
I suppose Blizzard is the best bet of the various studios under Microsoft but I don’t think Bethesda is in a place where it needs to give it away.
What about Red Guard? Isn't that a spin-off?
Yes but he wasn't really "in control" of the series till ES3-ES4
The work he/his team did in ES3 and a successful launch, saved the company from going bankrupt
