The Elder Scrolls 6 – Todd Howard cannot imagine exclusivity.
IN BRIEF:
- Todd Howard in an interview for gamesindustry.biz told, among others about the future of the gaming industry and the exclusivity of Bethesda titles;
- according to the developer, easy availability of production will be key for the next generation – subscriptions (eg Game Pass) and “gaming in the cloud” are to be supported;
- Howard said it was “hard to imagine” that games like TES VI would not appear on platforms other than Microsoft, but for now it is too early to talk about exact action on this topic.
Today, an extensive interview with Bethesda’s Executive Producer and Director Todd Howard has appeared on gamesindustry.biz. The developer told in it, among others about the future of the industry – gaming in the cloud and subscriptions – as well as the company’s plans and the possible exclusivity of its future productions.
At the beginning of the conversation, Howard referred to the acquisition ZeniMax Media Inc., i.e. owners of, among others Bethesda Softworks, by Microsoft. The developer expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the industry received this information positively, as did the developers themselves. He also added that he is pleased that both companies have been cooperating with each other for a long time and share similar values - they want to deliver the best productions to each player, no matter where they are or what device they use.
The developer spoke positively about subscriptions such as Game Pass. According to him, this is a great opportunity not only for players who get access to many good games at a good price, but also for developers – who will not be “tied up” with specific sales resultswhich will allow them a bit more freedom in creating their creations. Additionally, thanks to subscriptions, they will increase their chances that someone will reach for their production.
I am extremely optimistic about what Game Pass brings, not only to the players who use it, but also to the developers who don’t have to limit themselves to what they can create.
According to Howard, the upcoming generation of games will be marked by productions that will be easily available on various devices and in many places around the world. In addition to subscriptions, the so-called “Gaming in the cloud”, which, for example, is to make it easier for players to have fun when they plan a joint evening game with friends, but will not want to worry about the lack of a title on their disk (because it will be available via streaming).
This has many advantages (gaming in the cloud – editorial note) and I think it will become more and more popular in the next five years and maybe even become the main way people play in the future.
As for the exclusivity of future Bethesda productions, this Howard admitted that although its acquisition by Microsoft will result in, for example, their premiere availability as part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription, it is “hard to imagine” that they would not appear on other devices – on the example of The Elder Scrolls VI. He added, however, that the series had been somehow “exclusive” to Microsoft for years, so today it’s hard to say exactly what it will look like in the future.
For a full interview with Todd Howard, see this address. On Monday, November 2, there will also be a detailed record of the speech planned by the creator as part of the Develop: Brighton Digital 2020 conference.
- Bethesda Softworks official website
- The Elder Scrolls VI – what should be Skyrim’s successor?
