GamesRPGThe Elder ScrollsThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimSkyrim lead admits “Bethesda games could have a higher degree of polish”, but some jank “could be forgiven” because of how much you can do in the RPGsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGThe Elder ScrollsThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimSkyrim lead admits “Bethesda games could have a higher degree of polish”, but some jank “could be forgiven” because of how much you can do in the RPGsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Bethesda)
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith admits in a new interview that Bethesda games aren’t the most polished, but reckons fans are forgiving because of how much freedom the studio’s signature RPGs afford them.
Bethesda admitting its games are janky is hilariously belated; most games have bugs, but the bugs crawling around this particular studio’s otherwise beloved games has long-since become one of the most prominent memes in gaming.This isn’t the first time a Bethesda dev has acknowledged this aspect of the studio’s games, but as far as I can recall, it is one of the most explicitly phrased examples.
Nesmith toldVideoGamer: “I will be the first person to say that Bethesda games could have a higher degree of polish.”
It’s very much worth noting that Nesmith retired from Bethesda in 2021, so he doesn’t necessarily have to answer to the higher ups at the studio or its parent company, Xbox, when he says stuff like this. That said, he does couch his statement with something of a justification for Bethesda’s lack of polish.
“They have benefited, and when I was there I benefited, from providing such a wide and vast array of gameplay that a certain amount of lack of polish could be forgiven,” Nesmith says. “Having an NPC run in place in front of a wall for a little while became acceptable because of the 17 things you could do with that NPC, whereas most games you’d be able to do two.”
Nesmith says there’s a balancing act in which developers need to weigh the cost of fixing a list of bugs they’ll never finish against a fast-approaching release deadline.
“Are you willing to let the game sit for six more months and be delayed six more months in order to try to polish it? You’re still not going to get perfection, it’s just going to bebetter,” he says. “So at some point you have to make the decision to publish, and to publish something you know has bugs. You’ve got a list of them—all 700 or whatever—and they’re out there anyway because I can’t fix them all.”
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What Bethesda should do, in Nesmith’s view, is ask itself “‘how can we get as close as possible to that expectation. How can we make it so these guys don’t hate us for what’s wrong and love us for what’s right?'”
On that note, here’severything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”