Since Bethesda came under the ownership of Xbox, some players have been questioning what the future has in store for the studio behindElder ScrollsandFallout. The studio is synonymous with its single-player titles but, asFallout 76shows, it is willing to explore multiplayer experiences.Todd Howardhas come forward to asuage any player concerns about Bethesda moving away from single player games and asserts the copmany will continue to focus on single-player experiences.
Bethesda’s library of games is filled with single-player titles, many of which are among players' most beloved franchises. The studio’s foundational series are the aforementionedFalloutandElder Scrolls, the former of which Bethesda bought from series creator Interplay Entertainment in 2004. Other notable titles under Bethesda’s library include the reboots of beloved shootersDoomandWolfenstein, alongsideDishonored,The Evil Within, and its most recent release,Deathloop.
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During his appearance on the IGN Unfiltered podcast, the longtime Bethesda creative director was asked about what the future may hold for the studio’s development focus. Specifically, Howard was asked if the studio would continue prioritizing single-player titles or further explore the multiplayer space given the sustained success of titles likeThe Elder Scrolls OnlineandFallout 76, along with the upcoming co-op gameRedfall. Howard said while the studio may experiment with more “social elements” in future titles, Bethesda’s primary focus is on single-player games.
Howard’s answer falls in-line with Bethesda’s next four upcoming games, three of which are single-player driven experiences.The Elder Scrolls 6andStarfieldare at the forefront of these games, both of which Bethesda has promised an epic experience befitting the studio’s history. There’s alsoGhostwire: Tokyofrom Bethesda’s Japan-based developer Tango Gameworks, which appears to be a more narrative-driven title in-line with the Tango’s work onThe Evil Within.
It could also be seen as Xbox recognizing the value in what it has with Bethesda under its ownership and letting the studio continue as it has, especially if it wants an exclusives library to rival PlayStation’s. The PlayStation 4, alone, saw multiple major single-player exclusives released, like 2018’sSpider-ManandGod of War, which Sony used as a selling point for the system.
Xbox One, on the other hand, was pushed more on its techinical capabilities thanks to later iterations like the Xbox One X, but lacked the exclusives library PlayStation had. Outside ofHalo,Gears, andForza, the console lacked a library of notable exclusives to sell players on. This is something Xbox sought to mend through the acquisition of multiple major studios, such as Obsidian and Ninja Theory, with Bethesda being the proverbial crown jewel after its acquisition in 2021.
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