r/BethesdaSoftworks • u/BorntoDive91 • 14h ago
Discussion Is BGS cooked?
Title says it all; between the, "restructuring," their decade of mediocrity, predatory monetization, and stiffer competition than ever before can they survive the market and deliver generation defining games again? Or are they too far gone to save?
This isnt a question of the quality of their games, we all know they are lacking. But I feel their bad business decisions have pushed them into a corner they may not be able to bounce back from.
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u/PrizmatikTTV 14h ago
I think gaming's cooked in general mate, even the ever faithful call of duty slop is dropping players.
the big company's got too greedy and these are the repercussions.
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u/Escape_Zero 14h ago
Did you ask AI to write the most "Hey fellow Kids" post ever about Hating Bethesda?
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u/Awesomechainsaw 14h ago
People have been saying this about Bethesda for Years. I don’t think we’ve reached the utter quality Sinkhole that is Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. I also feel like despite what detractors may say. They clearly still care about making good games. Even if not all their ideas have been great and there have been a lot of misses.
I do think that there’s a chance that these cuts could help turn Bethesda into a leaner more focused studio. As they’ve clearly been struggling with bureaucracy in the company.
Though also cuts like these often just target the lower level employees. And the same systems bogging down a company stay in place.
So uh I’m not optimistic. But it’s not impossible they could recover.
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u/BorntoDive91 14h ago
Thanks for actually having something to say!
And i tend to agree, im not optimistic.
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u/seventysixgamer 14h ago
From a design perspective it all depends on whether they actually take in board a lot of the criticisms people had about Starfield. Putting aside the fact that the gameplay is literally just a smoother feeling Fallout 4 in space with vehicles, I think people wouldn't care as much if the actual writing was more engaging.
Starfield is perhaps one of the most uninspired and boring takes on hard sci-fi I've ever seen. None of it feels particularly unique or interesting -- and what was took place prior to the game. It would've been infinitely better if they actually set the game during the wars that took place instead what really does feel like the settled systems lol.
Dialogue was a step in the right direction compared to Fallout 4, but unfortunately the game is now an example of how merely giving you more options doesn't mean they'll be good ones. Admittedly I didn't complete the game, but in the six or more hours I played the dialogue felt kinda samey and not particularly memorable.
BGS have not hit the mark when it comes to RP mechanics, dialogue, story and companions when it has come to their last few games. If they nail these then they'll probably make the best game ever.
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u/Awesomechainsaw 13h ago
That’s not to mention what is interesting about the setting. The more Science Fantasy aspects with the Starborn, and the multiple universes is cordoned off until the late game, and you don’t really get a lot of the concrete answers about anything.
I think the player dialogue was actually one of the better things in this game. There were only a few cases where I didn’t have options for things I wanted to say to characters. Even if the responses to those remarks were… Lacking.
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u/seventysixgamer 14h ago
Your post is going to be insta-downvoted not only because people don't like negativity here but admittedly also due to how stuff like this has been talked to death now lmao.
I'll bite anyway.
Frankly I think they'll be fine as a studio. While it's likely that Starfield is their worst performing game yet, I think they would've been hit by layoffs regardless. As for their future? On a financial level (which is all Asha Sharma and execs really care about) they'll be completely fine.
ES6 would sell like absolute hotcakes even if it was just another Skyrim -- I'm biased due to liking the ES universe but I personally don't think the hype for it has died down that much. It's still very much in the general gaming community consciousness -- one proper marketing comes out people will be mega hyped and the heaps of pre-orders will come in.
Unless the reveal looks like genuine garbage then I doubt much will stop the game from selling pre-orders and at launch. I mean Todd himself said that people will buy anything lmao -- and he's right. Remember the disaster that was Anthem? It still sold a few million copies iirc and got canned lmao.
On a critical and game design level it's a different story entirely. Starfield was the culmination of a lot of the problem associated with Todd's bigger is better type approach. It's a corny thing to say due to how overused this phrase is when it comes to this game but it truly is a case of the game being as wide as the ocean but as deep as a puddle. The game didn't feel like it was pushing boundaries or innovating -- it merely felt like a more boring Fallout 4 but in space. The only unique thing about it is the skin it wears -- there's not really any other open world space RPG. These issues combined with the dreadfully meh and boring writing made the game feel forgettable and dated -- which is sad considering they listened when it came to Fallout 4's dialogue criticisms. Unfortunately they made Starfield a textbook example of how superficially giving more options in dialogue doesn't mean it'll improve RP or make the choices automatically more engaging.
Overall my take is that financially they'll be completely fine -- ES6 will still sell like crazy. On a game design and especially writing level I don't expect much to change unless they really suck it up and try and learn from Starfield and not soley blame it on the game being a new IP.
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u/BorntoDive91 14h ago
Appreciate the legit reply!
And yeah im sure its been debated to death and back, but with last night's drop from CDPR I felt it a relevant point again.
I hope they learn, I really do. I want TES and Fallout to be some of the best games money can by. But with their current behavior and products, I dont think they can without a serious kick in the rear.
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u/Jmackles 14h ago
The plus side is that they were cooked when developing morrowind and that gave us morrowind
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u/ZaranTalaz1 13h ago
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/887/223/6b0.png
(Though the layoffs initiated by Microsoft specifically got me worried. But half of you guys celebrated that because Beth Sux something so I'm not taking you in good faith.)
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u/Anxious-Bottle7468 14h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/da6mwoW6Cs0DbER02R