Todd Howard (video game designer)

Last updated

Todd Howard

ToddHoward2010sm.jpg

Howard in 2010
Born 1970/1971 (age 46–47) [1]
Pennsylvania, United States [2]
Nationality American
Alma mater College of William & Mary
Occupation Video game designer, director, producer
Employer Bethesda Game Studios
Known for The Elder Scrolls , Fallout

Todd Howard (born 1970/1971) [1] is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He currently serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.

Bethesda Game Studios American in-house development team at Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) is an American video game developer and a division of Bethesda Softworks based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself retaining only a publishing function. The studio is led by Todd Howard as executive producer and Ashley Cheng as studio director. BGS operates three satellite studios, one in Montreal and two in Texas, and employs 400 people as of July 2018.

<i>Fallout</i> (series) Series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games

Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games created by Interplay Entertainment. The series is set during the 22nd and 23rd centuries, and its atompunk retrofuturistic setting and artwork are influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s America, with its combination of hope for the promises of technology and the lurking fear of nuclear annihilation. A forerunner for Fallout is Wasteland, a 1988 game developed by Interplay Productions to which the series is regarded as a spiritual successor.

The Elder Scrolls is a series of action role-playing open world epic fantasy video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series is known for its elaborate and richly detailed open worlds and its focus on free-form gameplay. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim all won Game of the Year awards from multiple outlets. The series has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.

Contents

In 2009, GamePro magazine named Howard one of the "Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming" over the last 20 years. [3] He was named one of IGN 's "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time". [4]

<i>GamePro</i> US video game magazine

GamePro was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video game consoles, PC computers and mobile devices. Gamepro Media properties included GamePro magazine and their website. The company was also a part subsidiary of the privately held International Data Group (IDG), a media, events and research technology group.

<i>IGN</i> American entertainment website

IGN is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, itself wholly owned by j2 Global. The company is located in San Francisco's SOMA district and is headed by its former editor-in-chief, Peer Schneider. The IGN website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29, 1996. It focuses on games, films, television, comics, technology, and other media. Originally a network of desktop websites, IGN is now also distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu, and Snapchat.

Early life

Todd Howard developed an interest in computers, particularly video games, at a very young age. [5] He considers Wizardry and Ultima III: Exodus to be inspirations for his future games. [5] He is a 1989 graduate of Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. In 1993, he graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he double majored in engineering and finance despite his desire to create video games, later saying that "it seemed like the easiest path to get through college". [5]

<i>Wizardry</i> video game series

Wizardry is a series of role-playing video games, developed by Sir-Tech, which were highly influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games. The original Wizardry was a significant influence on early console role-playing games such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Originally made for the Apple II, the games were later ported to other platforms. The last game in the original series by Sir-Tech was Wizardry 8, released in 2001. There have since been various spin-off titles released only in Japan.

<i>Ultima III: Exodus</i> 1983 video game

Ultima III: Exodus is the third game in the series of Ultima role-playing video games. Exodus is also the name of the game's principal antagonist. It is the final installment in the "Age of Darkness" trilogy. Released in 1983, it was the first Ultima game published by Origin Systems. Originally developed for the Apple II, Exodus was eventually ported to 13 other platforms, including a NES/Famicom remake.

Emmaus High School

Emmaus High School is a public high school located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school serves grades nine through 12 in Pennsylvania's East Penn School District in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Emmaus High School is located immediately off Cedar Crest Boulevard, at 500 Macungie Avenue in Emmaus, a borough southwest of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

After playing Wayne Gretzky Hockey , Howard requested a job from a Bethesda Softworks office he encountered each day on his commute to and from school. He was rejected and told that he needed to finish school as a prerequisite. After completing school, he went back to Bethesda for a job but was rejected again. [5]

<i>Wayne Gretzky Hockey</i> 1988 video game

Wayne Gretzky Hockey is an ice hockey-themed sports game developed by Bethesda Softworks, and first published in 1988.

Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its first fifteen years, it was a video game developer and self-published its titles. In 2001, Bethesda spun off its own in-house development team into Bethesda Game Studios, and Bethesda Softworks became a publisher. It also publishes games by ZeniMax Online Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, MachineGames and Tango Gameworks.

Career

Bethesda Softworks

Howard joined Bethesda Softworks in 1994.[ citation needed ] His first game development credit for Bethesda Softworks was as producer and designer of The Terminator: Future Shock and Skynet , followed by design on The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall , which was released in 1996. He was the project leader and designer of The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard released in 1998. Howard was the project leader and designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and for the expansions that followed. He led the creation of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and all of its downloadable content. After this, he was the game director and executive producer of Fallout 3 . [6] [7] He said Bethesda's philosophy for The Elder Scrolls games was to allow people to "live another life, in another world". [8]

<i>The Terminator: Future Shock</i> video game

The Terminator: Future Shock is a first-person shooter video game based on The Terminator fictional universes developed and published by Bethesda Softworks in 1995. It was one of the first games in the first-person shooter genre to feature true, fully texture-mapped 3D environments and enemies, and pioneered the use of mouse-look control.

<i>Skynet</i> (video game) video game set in the Terminator universe

Skynet, stylized as SkyNET and known as The Terminator: Skynet in Europe, is a computer game based on the Terminator film series. It was intended as an expansion pack for The Terminator: Future Shock, but was adapted into a standalone product. The game was developed by Bethesda Softworks.

He returned to The Elder Scrolls series to lead the development of its fifth installment, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , which was released in November 2011. Howard directed Fallout 4 , which was announced with the release of its first official trailer on June 3, 2015. [9] [10] He served as the executive producer in Fallout Shelter , Bethesda Game Studios' first mobile game, which was announced and released at the E3 Showcase. [11]

<i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</i> video game

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2011.

<i>Fallout 4</i> open world action role-playing video game

Fallout 4 is a post-apocalyptic action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth major installment in the Fallout series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game is set within an open world post-apocalyptic environment that encompasses the city of Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts region known as "The Commonwealth". The main story takes place in the year 2287, ten years after the events of Fallout 3 and 210 years after "The Great War", which caused catastrophic nuclear devastation across the United States.

<i>Fallout Shelter</i> simulation video game

Fallout Shelter is a free-to-play simulation video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, with assistance by Behaviour Interactive, and published by Bethesda Softworks. Part of the Fallout series, it was released worldwide for iOS devices in June 2015, for Android devices in August 2015, for Microsoft Windows in July 2016, Xbox One in February 2017, and PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in June 2018. The game tasks the player with building and effectively managing their own Vault, a fallout shelter.

Speaker

Howard is a frequent speaker at industry events, and in magazine interviews. His games have been featured in Newsweek , CNN, USA Today , and The Today Show.

He spoke to developers at the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, sharing his three rules of game development: [12]

Howard returned as a keynote speaker at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit. [13] He said developers should ignore demographics and installed base, and follow their passions, saying that "if install base really mattered, we'd all make board games, because there are a lot of tables". [14]

Works

YearTitleRole(s)
1995 The Terminator: Future Shock Production, additional design
1996 Skynet Production, design
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall Additional design
1998 The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard Project leader, design, writing
2002 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Project leader, original concept
2003 The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon Executive producer
2004 The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey
2006 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007 The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles
2008 Fallout 3 Game director
2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2015 Fallout Shelter Executive producer
Fallout 4 Game director
2018 Fallout 76

Awards and recognition

Howard was named "Best Game Director" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2012. In 2014, he received the Lara of Honor, Germany's lifetime achievement award for gaming. Howard is one of a few developers to have created five consecutive Game of the Year award winners, with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind</i> open world fantasy action role-playing video game

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is an open-world, fantasy, action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the third installment in The Elder Scrolls series of games, following The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, and preceding The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It was released in North America in 2002 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox. The main story takes place on Vvardenfell, an island in the Dunmer province of Morrowind, part of the continent of Tamriel. The central quests concern the deity Dagoth Ur, housed within the volcanic Red Mountain, who seeks to gain power and break Morrowind free from Imperial reign. Although primarily a fantasy game, with many gameplay elements and Western medieval and fantasy fiction tropes inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and previous RPGs, it also features some steampunk elements and drew considerable inspiration from Middle Eastern and East Asian art, architecture, and cultures.

<i>The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion</i> 2006 action role-playing video game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks and the Take-Two Interactive division 2K Games. It is the fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls action fantasy series, following The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and preceding The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in March 2006, and on PlayStation 3 in March 2007, with a mobile version of the game released on May 2, 2006. Taking place within the fictional province of Cyrodiil, Oblivion's main story revolves around the player character's efforts to thwart a fanatical cult known as the "Mythic Dawn" that plans to open portal gates to a demonic realm known as "Oblivion". The game continues the open world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel anywhere in the game world at any time and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely. A perpetual objective for players is to improve their character's skills, which are numerical representations of certain abilities. Early in the game, seven skills are selected by the player as major skills for their character, with those remaining termed as minor skills.

<i>The Elder Scrolls: Arena</i> 1994 video game

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is an epic fantasy open world action role-playing video game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks for MS-DOS in 1994. It is the first game in The Elder Scrolls series. In 2004, a downloadable version of the game was made available free of charge as part of the 10th anniversary of the series. Like its sequels, Arena takes place on the continent of Tamriel, complete with wilderness, dungeons, and a spell creation system that allows players to mix various spell effects.

Development of <i>The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion</i>

The development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion began in 2002, immediately after its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, was published. Rumors of a sequel to Morrowind began circulating in June 2004; the sequel's title was identified on September 10, 2004, the date of its official announcement. Oblivion was developed by Bethesda Game Studios, and the initial Xbox 360 and personal computer (PC) releases were co-published by Bethesda and Take-Two Interactive's subsidiary, 2K Games. According to interviews with Bethesda staff, the publisher-developer relationship—one of the few independent relations in the industry—worked well, and Bethesda was not subject to excessive corporate guidance. Originally scheduled for a November 22, 2005, release, in tandem with the Xbox 360's launch, Oblivion was delayed to a March 21, 2006, release for Windows PCs and the Xbox 360.

The Radiant AI is a technology developed by Bethesda Softworks for The Elder Scrolls video games. It allows non-player characters (NPCs) to make choices and engage in behaviors more complex than in past titles. The technology was developed for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and expanded in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim; it is also used in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4, also published by Bethesda.

Adam Adamowicz was an American video game concept artist, best known for his work on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at Bethesda Softworks. He grew up on Long Island, New York and was of Polish descent.

Emil Pagliarulo is a video game designer working for Bethesda Softworks since 2002. He previously worked for Looking Glass Studios and Ion Storm Austin. He is best known for being the lead designer and the lead writer of Fallout 3, for which he received the Best Writing award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards. He was also credited as the senior designer and writer of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, as well as Fallout 4.

Creation Engine game engine by Bethesda

The Creation Engine is a 3D video game engine created by Bethesda Game Studios based on the Gamebryo engine. The Creation Engine has been used to create role-playing video games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

SureAI is a German team of modders who have created several total conversion mods of Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. They released five mods:

<i>The Elder Scrolls Online</i> video game

The Elder Scrolls Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in April 2014. It is a part of The Elder Scrolls series, of which it is the first multiplayer installment.

<i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn</i> video game

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn is the third and final add-on for the action role-playing open world video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released by Bethesda Softworks on the Xbox Live Marketplace on December 4, 2012. The Microsoft Windows version was released on February 5, 2013, and the PlayStation 3 version was released on February 12, 2013.

Nexus Mods

Nexus Mods is a site which allows users to upload and download "mods" (modifications) for computer games. It acts as a source for the distribution of original content. It is one of the largest gaming modification websites on the web, and, as of May 2018, had ten million registered members. Founded in 2001 as a fan site, Nexus Mods was modified into the website TESSsource in 2007. The Nexus Mods network supported 538 games as of May 2018, with a single forum and a wiki for site and mod-related topics. Recently, the Nexus Mods site expanded to serve as a host for mod files for any modifiable PC game. The website's hosting and publication of various mods has been covered in the gaming and computer press.

The Elder Scrolls Renewal Project (TESRenewal) is a fan volunteer effort to recreate and remaster the video games in The Elder Scrolls series.

References

  1. 1 2 Musgrove, Mike (August 15, 2005). "Out of the Dark and Into the Spotlight". ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  2. ↑ Thomsen, Michael (June 18, 2008). "Hot Seat: Todd Howard". IGN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Around the Web: Interviews edition | Bethesda Blog". Bethblog.com. May 7, 2009. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  4. ↑ "IGN - Top 100 Game Creators of All Time". IGN. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hanson, Ben (January 13, 2011). "Road To Skyrim: The Todd Howard Interview". Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  6. ↑ Remo, Chris (October 13, 2008). "Falling Into Fallout 3: Director Todd Howard Talks Scope And Evolution". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on May 8, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Fallout 3 Q&A - E3 Thoughts And More". GameSpot. August 2, 2007. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  8. ↑ Howard, Todd. "The RPG for the Next Generation". Archived from the original on January 24, 2010.
  9. ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (June 3, 2015). "Fallout 4 Officially Confirmed for PC, Xbox One, PS4". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Fallout 4 -- E3 Showcase World Premiere". Bethesda Softworks. June 15, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Move over, Candy Crush, Fallout Shelter catapults to #1 app in iTunes Charts". PhoneArena. June 18, 2015. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (February 20, 2009). "DICE 2009: The Following Colorful Wisdom Is From Todd Howard". MTV. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Todd Howard D.I.C.E. 2012 Opening Keynote Address". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ Remo, Chris (February 20, 2009). "DICE 09: Bethesda's Howard On Supreme Playability". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  15. ↑ Grandstaff, Matt (May 12, 2014). "Bethesda Blog - LARA to Honor Todd Howard". Bethesda Blog. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.