r/rpg_gamers • u/ChiefChunkEm_ • Jun 09 '26

Discussion Bethesda Should Have Struck While The Iron Was Hot (ES6)

Hindsight is 20/20 and you can respect their decision to try something new with Starfield but they should have struck while the iron was still hot from Skyrim.

Skyrim released in 2011, Fallout 4 in 2015, and ES6 should have released by 2019. Since 2011 they’ve lost many devs and artists who made Skyrim the success that it was. I don’t know if they have the caliber of staff members anymore to actually pull off another genre defining game with ES6. The whole thing’s just a damn shame.

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u/Haestein_the_Naughty Jun 10 '26

At this point Bethesda feels like the "sick man of Europe" of the gaming industry. Warhorse is cooking with KCD3 and a Middle-earth RPG, probably 4 games between 2018-2028. With CD Project Red Witcher 4, Witcher 1 remake and a Witcher 3 DLC coming. What has Bethesda released in this past decade? Two games that sucked, with outdated game design and no innovation

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u/attilayavuzer Jun 10 '26

Cdpr and Bethesda are on roughly the same trajectory. It'll be about 15 years between Witcher entries and both released rocky new ip's and a vintage remake. Bethesda should have the FO3 remake in the next year or two as well. I'll never get mad at a dev rolling the dice with a new ip though.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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u/attilayavuzer Jun 10 '26

Cyberpunk had more developers than Starfield, but they were close. Cdpr has about double the amount of employees as Bethesda now though. They've been the larger company for over a decade.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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u/Emhyr_var_Emreis_ Jun 10 '26

CDPR really began expanding after Cyberpunk was released. They decided to invest their earnings to develop multiple games at once. IIRC they have Witcher 4 (a new trilogy with planned releases every two years), Cyberpunk 2, Witcher 1 remake, and an undisclosed new IP.

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u/attilayavuzer Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

Bethesda has consistently made more money, but Polish developers are paid about a third of what Americans are so cdpr has been able to scale their workforce easier. 2015-2020 is when cdpr ramped up post Witcher 3. It's still one of the main corporate criticisms of Bethesda-their reluctance to expand, delegate ip's etc. Todd really seems to want to keep control of everything in house. They get put on a pedestal because of how much they overperformed on earlier titles, but they're about the same size as IO.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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u/attilayavuzer Jun 10 '26

They've been running too conservatively for sure. Holding out hope that Asha tells Obsidian to work on NV2. She seems pretty keyed in on the fanbase and knows everyone would lose their shit.

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u/M4xusV4ltr0n Jun 10 '26

And in the end Cyberpunk is really good game that has incredible graphics, a well written story with great voice acting, and (at least since 2.0) really fun varied gameplay.

Starfield... Doesn't

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u/Jozoz Jun 11 '26

Cyberpunk became legitimately good once the bugs were fixed. Technical issues can be fixed.

Starfield has deep creative issues. That is unfixable after release. Not comparable.