Skyrim’s Lead Designer On Starfield’s Origins And Bethesda’s Evolution - MinnMax Interview

Ben Hanson interviews Bruce Nesmith about his long career at Bethesda Softworks, where he was the lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, senior systems designer for Starfied, and overall design director for the studio. He started at the legendary RPG studio in 1995, so we have a lot of ground to cover. He talks about the growth of Bethesda and some of the natural pitfalls they’ve fallen into recently with Fallout 76 and Starfield’s development. Bruce started his career in 1981 working at TSR (the company that invented Dungeons & Dragons) so we also talk about his thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3. We also cover Bethesda’s first space game that never released called The 10th Planet and how The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed the studio. There’s a lot in this interview, so we hope you all enjoy it and help share it online. Directly support independent games media and unlock the podcast version of MinnMax’s interviews by supporting us on Patreon! To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below... 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:21 - The stability of Bethesda Softworks 00:06:38 - Bethesda’s recent growth and changes 00:09:33 - Fallout 76 and Todd Howard 00:19:38 - Why developers lose focus on what gamers want 00:23:03 - Thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3 00:27:50 - Why Bruce left Bethesda 00:32:23 - The reaction to Starfield’s release 00:35:24 - Designing Starfield’s limited exploration 00:39:16 - The origins of Starfield 00:44:25 - Choosing to retire after Microsoft’s acquisition 00:45:58 - Writing his Loki Redeemed novel trilogy 00:51:39 - Thoughts on tabletop design 00:52:40 - Making D&D games for TSR in the 1980s 01:01:49 - Hired at Bethesda 01:06:54 - Working with Todd Howard in 1995 01:08:55 - Returning to Bethesda for Oblivion 01:10:17 - Choosing the next region for The Elder Scrolls series 01:13:05 - Bruce’s impact on The Elder Scrolls VI 01:15:26 - The downsides of long game development 01:19:53 - Can you pivot in development after a game like Cyberpunk releases? 01:22:38 - The most influential RPGs in Bruce’s life 01:23:57 - The impact of Skyrim 01:25:13 - How The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed Bethesda 01:29:29 - The downfall of 10th Planet, Bethesda’s first space game 01:38:19 - Conclusions from Bruce Follow us on Twitch - Please support us on Patreon - Our solo stream channel - @minnmaxstreamarchives Buy MinnMax merch here - Follow us on Twitter - Go behind the scenes on Instagram - Become a Game Champion by supporting MinnMax at the $50 tier on Patreon and lock in the game of your choice! An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs - RabidLime Final Fantasy Tactics - Vincent Baker Ghost of Tsushima - ProcyonNumber6 Mortal Kombat 1 - Malcolm Holliday Total War: Warhammer 3 - Maniac Luck Be A Landlord - TrampolineTales Beautiful Katamari - Clemens Zobel Brain Dead 13 - Jawarhello Neo: The World Ends With You - Joshua Ayers Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - Patrick Polk