You know, we need to give mad credit to Bethesda as a publisher this generation—even as the rest of the western AAA industry is moving towards homogenized titles, and multiplayer games-as-a-service style offerings riddled with micro transactions and loot boxes, Bethesda has staunchly and steadfastly been releasing classic, single player games across the spectrum, with no microtransaction nonsense to detract from their quality.
For example, just last year, they put out Prey, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, The Evil Within 2, and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus– that’s an immersive sim, a stealth game, a horror game, and a single player only first person shooter. What other major AAA western third party has a lineup this diverse?
The reason, according to Creative Director Jens Matthies of Machine Games, is that Bethesda is the only publisher willing to greenlight games like these at all. “I don’t think there’s really anything alike in the games we’re making. They’re first-person shooters, fundamentally, but in terms of the vibe and the twists and turns of the story beats — basically, I don’t think any other publisher would greenlight these projects,” he said in an interview with GamesBeat.
I agree with Matthies—indeed, it is something I have noticed and remarked on a whole lot myself over the last few years. At a time when more and more publishers are chasing the big bucks, Bethesda has my respect for being one of the last publishers still putting out classic, single player games across a variety of genres, devoid of any nonsensical monetization.