Bethesda is one of the few third parties jumping headfirst to give major support to new technologies and platforms. For instance, they have been a leading third party supporter of Nintendo’s Switch, and they have also led the charge on supporting the nascent VR format.
We already know that their Nintendo Switch gambles have paid off, and that their Switch games have done well for them, but what about VR? How have their VR projects fared? According to Bethesda’s VP Pete Hines, they’ve done very well.
“We were really pleased with how the three of those turned out on their various platforms,” said Hines in an interview with Upload VR. “We’re aware of all the, ‘Well, what else is Skyrim coming out on?’ jokes, but that version [VR] was a really good version of that game. DOOM VFR, Fallout 4 VR, we’re just really pleased with how all of those performed and were received. We’re going to continue to look at VR like we do at all platforms in terms of what’s a good fit for that platform and seeing what we’ve got and can it work.”
“They’ve done really well,” Hines continued. “Skyrim rocketed right to the top on PSVR and stayed there, when we released Fallout 4 VR on Steam it shot to the top and stayed there. When we released Skyrim VR on PC it did too, DOOM VFR has done really well. When it comes to any install base more is always better, but yeah, they did well.”
This is good to hear- as I said, Bethesda is one of the few third parties who have actually taken supporting VR seriously, pushing actual meaningful and substantial AAA content to the format rather than just bite sized “experiences” or tech demos- so it’s good to see that their gambles are paying off.