Ben Hanson interviews Bruce Nesmith about his long career at Bethesda Softworks, where he was the lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, senior systems designer for Starfied, and overall design director for the studio. He started at the legendary RPG studio in 1995, so we have a lot of ground to cover. He talks about the growth of Bethesda and some of the natural pitfalls they've fallen into recently with Fallout 76 and Starfield's development. Bruce started his career in 1981 working at TSR (the company that invented Dungeons & Dragons) so we also talk about his thoughts on Baldur's Gate 3. We also cover Bethesda's first space game that never released called The 10th Planet and how The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed the studio. There's a lot in this interview, so we hope you all enjoy it and help share it online. Directly support independent games media and unlock the podcast version of MinnMax's interviews by supporting us on Patreon!   / minnmax  

To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...

00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:21 - The stability of Bethesda Softworks
00:06:38 - Bethesda's recent growth and changes
00:09:33 - Fallout 76 and Todd Howard
00:19:38 - Why developers lose focus on what gamers want
00:23:03 - Thoughts on Baldur's Gate 3
00:27:50 - Why Bruce left Bethesda
00:32:23 - The reaction to Starfield's release
00:35:24 - Designing Starfield's limited exploration
00:39:16 - The origins of Starfield
00:44:25 - Choosing to retire after Microsoft's acquisition
00:45:58 - Writing his Loki Redeemed novel trilogy
00:51:39 - Thoughts on tabletop design
00:52:40 - Making D&D games for TSR in the 1980s
01:01:49 - Hired at Bethesda
01:06:54 - Working with Todd Howard in 1995
01:08:55 - Returning to Bethesda for Oblivion
01:10:17 - Choosing the next region for The Elder Scrolls series
01:13:05 - Bruce's impact on The Elder Scrolls VI
01:15:26 - The downsides of long game development
01:19:53 - Can you pivot in development after a game like Cyberpunk releases?
01:22:38 - The most influential RPGs in Bruce's life
01:23:57 - The impact of Skyrim
01:25:13 - How The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed Bethesda
01:29:29 - The downfall of 10th Planet, Bethesda's first space game
01:38:19 - Conclusions from Bruce

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