Bethesda Game Studios

Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself retaining only a publishing function. The studio is led by Todd Howard as executive producer and Ashley Cheng as studio director. BGS operates three satellite studios, one in Montreal and two in Texas, and employs 400 people as of July 2018.

Bethesda Game Studios
Division
IndustryVideo games
Founded2001 (2001)
Headquarters
Rockville, Maryland
,
US
Key people
Products
Number of employees
400[1] (2018)
ParentZeniMax Media
SubsidiariesSee § Subsidiaries
Websitebethesdagamestudios.com

History

In 2001, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, decided that the two operational units at Bethesda Softworks, development and publishing, should be split apart. Subsequently, Bethesda Softworks retained the publishing, while development staff was moved to the newly established Bethesda Game Studios.[2]

On December 9, 2015, ZeniMax Media announced the formation of Bethesda Game Studios Montreal, a new BGS studio located in Montreal, Quebec. Led by Yves Lachance, the former head of Behaviour Interactive, the studio was set to broaden BGS' portfolio of games across all gaming platforms.[3]

On March 9, 2018, Austin, Texas-based BattleCry Studios, another ZeniMax Media subsidiary, was rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Austin and thus became part of BGS.[4]

On August 10, 2018, Escalation Studios was rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Dallas.[5]

Subsidiaries
  • Bethesda Game Studios Montreal in Montreal, Quebec; founded in December 2015.
  • Bethesda Game Studios Austin in Austin, Texas; founded as BattleCry Studios, a subsidiary of ZeniMax, in October 2012, and re-arranged as part of BGS in March 2018.
  • Bethesda Game Studios Dallas in Dallas, Texas; founded as Escalation Studios in 2007, acquired by ZeniMax in February 2017, and re-arranged as part of BGS in August 2018.

Games developed

Since its foundation, Bethesda Game Studios has principally been involved in the development of role-playing video games with their The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series for consoles and personal computers, almost all of which have been commercially and critically successful.[6][7]

In 2015, the studio entered into the mobile gaming market with Fallout Shelter based on the same franchise, which gained 50 million players by mid-2016. In February 2017, Howard said that they are in development of another mobile title following onto the success of Fallout Shelter.[8] This was revealed in 2018 to be The Elder Scrolls: Blades.

In 2016, Howard confirmed that while they are developing The Elder Scrolls VI, it was still a long way to the game's release. Meanwhile, two other significant projects are in development which are expected to be released prior to The Elder Scrolls VI.[9] On May 30, 2018, Fallout 76 was announced.[10] On June 10, 2018, during Bethesda's E3 2018 conference, the other project in development was revealed to be the company's first new intellectual property in 25 years, Starfield, which is in production with no specific platform details revealed. Todd Howard revealed that Fallout 76 was Bethesda Game Studios' first online-only role-playing survival game. However, the game has received a notable amount of criticism from fans and critics alike.

Year Title Genre(s) Platform(s)
2002 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Action role-playing Microsoft Windows, Xbox
2004 IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 Racing PlayStation 2, Xbox
2006 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Action role-playing Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2008 Fallout 3
2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2015 Fallout Shelter Simulation Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Fallout 4 Action role-playing Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2016 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2017 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4
Fallout 4 VR Microsoft Windows
2018 Fallout 76 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2019 The Elder Scrolls: Blades Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch[11]
TBA Starfield TBA TBA
The Elder Scrolls VI

Expansion packs
Year Title Game Platform(s)
2002 Tribunal The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Microsoft Windows, Xbox
2003 Bloodmoon
2006 Knights of the Nine The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2007 Shivering Isles
2009 Operation: Anchorage Fallout 3
The Pitt
Broken Steel
Point Lookout
Mothership Zeta
2012 Dawnguard The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Hearthfire
Dragonborn
2016 Automatron Fallout 4 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Wasteland Workshop
Far Harbor
Contraptions Workshop
Vault-Tec Workshop
Nuka-World

Awards

References
  1. "Skyrim director Todd Howard: Why triple-A games are better when you don't play it safe". July 4, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  2. Noclip (June 5, 2018). "The History of Bethesda Game Studios - Elder Scrolls / Fallout Documentary". Retrieved November 12, 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. Kato, Matthew (December 9, 2015). "Bethesda Opens New Studio In Montreal". Game Informer. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  4. Dring, Christopher (March 9, 2018). "BattleCry Studios becomes third Bethesda Game Studios office". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  5. Fogel, Stefanie (August 10, 2018). "Escalation Studios Is Now Bethesda Game Studios Dallas". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  6. Petty, Jared (June 14, 2016). "Bethesda Says Two Upcoming Games Are as Big as Skyrim and Fallout". IGN.
  7. Davidson, John (February 18, 2017). "Bethesda's Todd Howard Hints at 3 New Games". Glixel. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  8. Makuch, Eddie (February 17, 2017). "Skyrim Director Teases Next Mobile Game". GameSpot. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  9. Chalk, Andy. "The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development, Todd Howard confirms". PC Gamer. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  10. Schreier, Jason (May 30, 2018). "Bethesda Announces Fallout: 76". Kotaku. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  11. Fenlon, Wes (June 11, 2018). "The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a free-to-play RPG coming to PC and mobile this fall". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  12. "SpikeTV Video Game Awards 2011". Spike (TV network). Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  13. "Nominees | The Game Awards 2015". The Game Awards. Ola Balola. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
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