It sounds like the development of Skyrim was handled rather differently to how Bethesda approaches its RPGs now, as one former dev fondly recalls the "freedom to do what you want" that led to "a lot of the great stuff" in the iconic fifth Elder Scrolls game.
Speaking to PC Gamer in an interview at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC), former Bethesda developer Nate Purkeypile – who worked as a world artist on Skyrim – speaks about the less strict approach to the creation of the 2011 RPG, noting that "we had quite a bit of freedom to do stuff." He points to the underground city of Blackreach, which "was not on schedule at all," and explains: "We just kind of did that on the side and put it in."
Similarly, the addition of the RPG's werewolves – which were actually "just dudes with dog heads" at the start – is the result of a side project from a dev who "took it upon themselves to make it awesome." He continues: "A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having that freedom to do what you want, as opposed to a game with this whole 'checklist design' and 'design by committee.'"
This style of development might not fly at Bethesda now, though, by the sound of it, as Purkeypile reckons "you would basically get in trouble for doing that" in the modern-day version of the studio. He suggests that this could be because the studio has expanded so significantly since those old days, noting that in a team of 500 people, it'd be "a mess" if "everyone is doing that." He continues: "But with, you know, 100 people? It's much more manageable, and where a lot of the interesting things come from."
Purkeypile left Bethesda in 2021 while spacefaring RPG Starfield was still in the works, so while he can't speak from experience about the current approach to development as the studio continues working on The Elder Scrolls 6, after working there for around 14 years, it's safe to say that he's got a very good idea of how things operate. Here's hoping that the next Elder Scrolls game still captures the magic that Skyrim did so brilliantly whenever it does finally release.
For more games like Skyrim, be sure to check out our roundup of the best RPGs.
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