Skyrim on PC did better ”than we’ve ever done” by ”a large, large number,” enthused Howard, and the new consoles are very PC-like. This ”opens up avenues” for new ambitions.
Mods are the lifeblood of any good open world RPG like The Elder Scrolls series, and Bethesda have seen staggering numbers when it came to Skyrim for PC.
Ironically then it’s the huge comeback of the PC platform that is causing them so much trouble nailing down exactly what the next Fallout should be and have, given all the more freedom to pursue ideas and features that just weren’t feasible before. Mods have been largely supported in the past, even on console to a degree, but how far can it expand now?
Bethesda doesn’t have a timeframe for their next Fallout, said Howard, ”but I think it’s gonna be a while.”
“We’ve gotten fairly used to all the questions and curiosity over the years. Everyone wants information. Right now, we’re just trying to figure out which of our ideas are going to stick and finding an appropriate time to talk about it.”
”PC is resurgent,” he enthused. “Skyrim did better than we’ve ever done on PC by a large, large number. And that’s where the mods are. That feeds the game for a long time. And it’s exciting that the new consoles are very PC-like. That opens up avenues for us going forward to do things that we’ve wanted to do in the past. There are kind of random ideas we’re working on right now, and it’s like, ‘Wow, I think there’s potential here to do some really cool stuff.’”
There have been reports of voice actors and a likely setting in Boston for the next Fallout. Hopefully Bethesda is ready to move on to another more capable game engine for their next round of big world RPGs.