The lead designer of Skyrim is “eternally shocked” at not just the RPG’s success, but its enduring appeal, suggesting it’s the game’s open world and “quirkiness” that keeps players coming back 14 years after its debut.
Skyrim released way back in 2011. An open-world RPG, it puts players on the precipice of determining the future of Skyrim as the Empire waits for the prophesied Dragonborn to come, a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand among the dragons. IGN’s Skyrim review returned a 9.5/10. We called it “a rare kind of intensely personal, deeply rewarding experience, and one of the best role-playing games yet produced.”
Now, speaking on the FRVR Podcast, lead designer Bruce Nesmith offered his thoughts on why so many people continue to play and enjoy Skyrim so many years later. “I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since,” he said, adding: “By all rights, a year later, some other game should have eclipsed it. And then two years later, three years later, five, 10. It’s like ‘what the hell is going on here?’
“Todd [Howard, Bethesda boss] would even go to these meetings and show us information, which I can’t give you the details of, about how many people are playing it. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’ Seriously, still, 10 years later.”
Exploring the game’s legacy and lasting community, he added: “I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since. And one of those things that we accepted, which a lot of developers struggle to accept, is that this means you’re going to have quirkiness. You’re going to have weird stuff happen. And if you say that’s okay, you can get this diamond.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Nesmith believes that if a developer tries to “smooth everything out” to prevent that aforementioned “weird stuff,” “you’re going to lose some of that magic” that makes some games so special.
“And we didn’t make that as a conscious decision,” he added. “It just sort of happened. You know, we kind of prioritize functionally and ‘well, okay, that bug’s acceptable. This behaviour is less than ideal, but we can live with it because look what we’re getting over here.’
“We didn’t put anything off limits. We didn’t try to manage the experience. We let it be your experience, it was a player-driven experience. And very, very few games have mastered that because open world is now almost a cliché statement… ‘Oh yeah, we have open world.’”
Bethesda is of course working on its hotly anticipated Skyrim follow-up, The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda has said next to nothing about it, but we do know it will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan, after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.
Meanwhile, one of Skyrim’s best-known players, Shirley Curry — known to fans as Skyrim Grandma — recently announced her retirement from uploading The Elder Scrolls videos ahead of her 90th birthday.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
