Skyrim designer says Starfield’s biggest problem was being a Bethesda game

Former Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith believes Bethesda may be a victim of its own success, suggesting Starfield would have been celebrated far more if it had launched from a different studio.

Speaking in an interview with Press Box PR, Nesmith said expectations around Bethesda releases have reached a point where even popular games struggle to escape comparison with the studio’s past.

While the sci-fi RPG launched to solid sales and generally favourable reviews, he suggested its reception was shaped less by what it was and more by who made it.

Hype hurts Bethesda games says Skyrim dev

“Bethesda’s in the bad position of having expectations being so high they cannot be met. Managing expectations is the number one thing a good marketing department has to do,” he said.

“Let’s take a look at Starfield. Let’s assume that a new studio had put out Starfield. I suspect it would be talked about like the second coming. But because it was released by Bethesda, the expectations were so much higher that it was seen differently.”

Despite the mixed discourse around the game, Nesmith was clear that he views Starfield positively overall. “Starfield is a good game. It’s a very good game. It’s just not the game that people expected it to be,” he said.

That same pressure now looms over future projects like The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, though Nesmith believes Bethesda’s history gives it a genuine chance of meeting expectations.

“Now, going back to Elder Scrolls 6, they have that same problem, but they also have the advantage of having done Elder Scrolls 5 and 4 and 3 and 2, to where I think they’ve got a good shot at meeting expectations.”

He then pointed to past launches as proof that the studio has delivered under similar scrutiny before:

“After Oblivion, there were very sky-high expectations, and Skyrim met them and exceeded them. After Fallout 3, there were very high expectations for Fallout 4, and the studio met them,” he said. So the potential is definitely there, but I agree with Nate Purkeypile. Boy, do they have their work cut out for them.”