Company type | Division |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 2001 |
Headquarters | , US |
Key people |
|
Products |
|
Number of employees | >450 (2023) |
Parent | Bethesda Softworks |
Website | bethesdagamestudios |
Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. It is best known for its action role-playing franchises, including The Elder Scrolls , Fallout , and Starfield . Bethesda Game Studios was established in 2001 as the development unit of Bethesda Softworks, separating from publishing operations. Todd Howard serves as the studio's executive producer, leading it with managing director Ashley Cheng and studio director Angela Browder. As of November 2023, Bethesda Game Studios had 450 employees. [1]
Bethesda Game Studios was established in 2001. Previously, Bethesda Softworks, then a developer and publisher, had been reorganized as a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax's Robert A. Altman sought to grow the development unit, which was spun off from Bethesda Softworks as Bethesda Game Studios, starting out with roughly 40 people. [2] [3]
By 2008, Bethesda Game Studios was considered one of the industry's top developers on the reputation of The Elder Scrolls fantasy universe and the critically acclaimed Fallout 3 . Bethesda had created a unique role for itself, “spending years to create massive, open-world, single-player RPGs — hardly a booming genre in the industry at large — to great success, bringing a once-niche PC genre to a broad multiplatform audience,” wrote Gamasutra in their year-end best-of list. [4]
In December 2015, Bethesda Game Studios opened a satellite studio in Montreal under the leadership of Yves Lachance, the former head of Behaviour Interactive. [5] In 2018, two ZeniMaxi-owned studios became part of Bethesda Game Studios: BattleCry Studios was renamed Bethesda Game Studios Austin in March, and Escalation Studios was turned into Bethesda Game Studios Dallas in August. [6] [7] Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in March 2021. [8] [9]
Bethesda Game Studios has principally been involved in the development of role-playing video games with their The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series for consoles and personal computers, most of which have been commercially and critically successful. [13] [14]
In 2015, the studio entered into the mobile gaming market with Fallout Shelter based on the same franchise, which gained 50 million players by mid-2016. In February 2017, Howard said that they are in development of another mobile title following onto the success of Fallout Shelter. [15] This was revealed in 2018 to be The Elder Scrolls: Blades .
In 2016, Howard confirmed that while they are developing The Elder Scrolls VI , it was still a long way to the game's release. Meanwhile, two other significant projects are in development which are expected to be released prior to The Elder Scrolls VI. [16] On May 30, 2018, Fallout 76 was announced. [17] On June 10, 2018, during Bethesda's E3 2018 conference, the other project in development was revealed to be the company's first new intellectual property in 25 years, Starfield . During the 2021 Xbox/Bethesda Games Showcase, Starfield was announced to be releasing exclusively for PC and Xbox Series X/S. Starfield released on September 6, 2023. [18] [19] On June 14, 2022, Howard confirmed that Fallout 5 would start development after the completion of The Elder Scrolls VI, with the latter currently in the pre-production phase of development. [20]
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
2002 | The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | Windows, Xbox |
2004 | IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
2006 | IHRA Drag Racing: Sportsman Edition | PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox |
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 | |
2008 | Fallout 3 | |
2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
2015 | Fallout Shelter | Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
Fallout 4 | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | |
2016 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
2017 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR | PlayStation 4, Windows |
Fallout 4 VR | Windows | |
2018 | Fallout 76 | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
2020 | The Elder Scrolls: Blades | Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch [21] |
2023 | The Elder Scrolls: Castles | Android [22] |
Starfield | Windows, Xbox Series X/S | |
TBA | The Elder Scrolls VI | TBA |
Year | Title | Game | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Tribunal | The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | Windows, Xbox |
2003 | Bloodmoon | ||
2006 | Knights of the Nine | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 |
2007 | Shivering Isles | ||
2009 | Operation: Anchorage | Fallout 3 | |
The Pitt | |||
Broken Steel | |||
Point Lookout | |||
Mothership Zeta | |||
2012 | Dawnguard | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | |
Hearthfire | |||
Dragonborn | |||
2016 | Automatron | Fallout 4 | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
Wasteland Workshop | |||
Far Harbor | |||
Contraptions Workshop | |||
Vault-Tec Workshop | |||
Nuka-World | |||
2020 | The Pitt [23] | Fallout 76 | |
Steel Reign [24] | |||
Steel Dawn [25] | |||
Wastelanders [26] | |||
TBA | Shattered Space | Starfield | Windows, Xbox Series X/S |
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. In 1999, it became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its first 15 years, it was a video game developer and self-published its titles. In 2001, Bethesda spun off its in-house development team into Bethesda Game Studios, leaving Bethesda Softworks to focus on publishing operations.
The Elder Scrolls is a series of action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on free-form gameplay in an open world. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim all won Game of the Year awards from multiple outlets. The series has sold more than 58 million copies worldwide.
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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a 2006 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, and co-published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games. It is the fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following 2002's The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2006, followed by PlayStation 3 in 2007. Taking place within the fictional province of Cyrodiil, the game's main story focuses on 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.
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Todd Andrew Howard is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland, and founded in 1999.
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 started 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 Softworks 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. Initially 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.
ZeniMax Online Studios LLC is an American video game developer and a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, specializing in massively multiplayer online games. The company developed The Elder Scrolls Online and its downloadable content. ZeniMax Online Studios had around 250 employees in 2012. In addition to the main Hunt Valley, Maryland based office, ZeniMax Online also maintains a satellite studio in Budapest, Hungary as well as a customer support center in Galway, Ireland and an additional office in Austin, Texas.
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The Elder Scrolls VI is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It will be the sixth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game is expected to be released for Windows and Xbox consoles.
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