Fallout 76 was quite a different kind of project for Bethesda Game Studios. Known primarily for its massive single player RPGs, the studio pivoted with the game to deliver an online multiplayer experience focused on social elements. The experiment didn’t get off to the best start, but to its credit, Bethesda has stuck with the game. After seeing consistent and noticeable improvements ever since the launch of the Wastelanders expansion, Fallout 76 is now in a significantly better state than it was three years ago.
But can we continue to expect similar experiences from Bethesda Game Studios in the future? Speaking in an interview with IGN, Bethesda’s Todd Howard recently said that the developer continues to remain focused on and be passionate about making solo experiences first and foremost, in vein of the kind of games it’s generally been known for.
When asked if we can expect to see more single player mainline games from Bethesda Game Studios going forward, Howard said, “Absolutely. Even in [Fallout] 76, once we added Wastelanders and that kind of questing stuff, the amount of people that want to play it as a solo experience is very, very strong. It’s part of who we are, it’s what we love about games.”
Howard did went on to say (echoing similar previous statements) that in spite of being focused on solo experiences, the developer doesn’t want to rule anything out, and could still do multiplayer-focused things even in single player games that don’t take away from the core experience.
“That being said, there are various ways you can talk about adding social elements to a game that I don’t think take away from that,” he said. “And we’ve dabbled with some of that and not put it out, or things on paper, things we’d like to try in our games. So I don’t want to rule that out.”
He concluded: “[Fallout] 76 has really ended up being a great experience for us, and a great learning one. But our passion is behind, ‘Who are you going to be? This world is for you, go make it your own.'”
Currently, of course, Todd Howard is directing Starfield, which is Bethesda Game Studios’ next game, due out in November 2022. Following that, The Elder Scrolls 6 is next in line, which, like Starfield, will be a core single player RPG. And perhaps after that the developer will move on to Fallout 5.
