Before Elder Scrolls: a small studio finding its footing
Bethesda Softworks was founded in 1986, initially working on licensed and sports titles rather than the sprawling RPGs it's known for today. The studio's earliest years included Terminator tie-in games and even NFL and NBA titles, a far cry from the open-world fantasy it would eventually become synonymous with. It wasn't until The Elder Scrolls: Arena in 1994 that the studio found the identity that has defined it ever since.
Building the Elder Scrolls identity
Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim each pushed the studio's core philosophy further: build an enormous world, hand the player real freedom inside it, and let emergent stories happen alongside the scripted ones. That philosophy became Bethesda Game Studios' signature, distinct from the specific development team Bethesda Softworks became as the parent company grew to publish other studios' work as well.
The Fallout years
Bethesda didn't create the Fallout series, that credit belongs to Interplay and Black Isle Studios, but after acquiring the rights, Bethesda Game Studios brought Fallout into the same open-world design language that had made Elder Scrolls successful. Fallout 3 in 2008 applied the Oblivion-era formula to a post-apocalyptic setting and became a massive hit in its own right, followed by Fallout 4 in 2015 and the multiplayer Fallout 76 in 2018.
Todd Howard and the studio's public voice
Few developers are as closely associated with their studio's output as Todd Howard is with Bethesda Game Studios. Having worked on the series since Arena and directed every mainline Elder Scrolls and Fallout title since Morrowind and Fallout 3 respectively, Howard has become the public face of the studio's ambitions, its E3 and showcase presentations, and its long-running reputation for both technical ambition and technical jank in equal measure.
Want to see where the studio's story goes next?
Shop Bethesda Games →Starfield, and the studio's newest engine
2023's Starfield marked Bethesda's first entirely new IP from the studio in over twenty-five years, built on Creation Engine 2, an evolution of the engine that has powered every Elder Scrolls and Fallout game since Oblivion. It also represented a shift in priority: Todd Howard has confirmed that finishing Starfield came before ramping up full production on The Elder Scrolls VI, which is part of why the wait for the next mainline Elder Scrolls game has stretched on as long as it has.
What comes next
With Starfield shipped and its major expansions underway, Bethesda's stated focus has shifted toward The Elder Scrolls VI. For a studio whose entire identity was built on Elder Scrolls, it's the project the whole industry is watching most closely.
Curious what's actually confirmed so far? Check our Elder Scrolls VI watch page, or catch up on the full Elder Scrolls game lineup and see how they all rank against each other.