Bruce Nesmith, Skyrim lead designer and Fallout quest designer, has discussed the issue of bugs in Bethesda games, admitting the publisher “could have a higher degree of polish”.
Bethesda’s games are known for having plenty of bugs – some amusing, some game-breaking – but in an interview with VideoGamer, Nesmith said the company can somewhat get away with it due to the complex systems in their games.
“I will be the first person to say that Bethesda Games could have a higher degree of polish,” he said. “They have benefited, and when I was there I benefited, from providing such a wide and vast array of gameplay that a certain amount of lack of polish could be forgiven. Having an NPC run in place in front of a wall for a little while became acceptable because of the 17 things you could do with that NPC, whereas most games you’d be able to do two.”
Still, Nesmith said it would be “impossible” to release a game without any bugs as games these days are so complex and have “so many working elements that are trying to interact with one another”.
“There is no game on the market that is bug free,” he surmised.
Nesmith also discussed the possibility of further transparency with players to divulge a list of known bugs ahead of a game’s release.
“It’s an interesting problem, because when you’re in marketing, what you’re looking to do is manage expectations,” he said. “The players’ expectations are that the game is flawless, that it has no bugs. That is their expectation. You don’t have to like it, but it’s there. And you aren’t going to achieve it. So what marketing has to do is say, how can we get as close as possible to that expectation. How can we make it so these guys don’t hate us for what’s wrong and love us for what’s right?”
Skyrim was notorious for its multiple bugs, though more recently Bethesda has worked to provide more polished experiences. Starfield, for instance, had “the fewest bugs that any game from Bethesda has ever shipped with” according to Microsoft’s Matt Booty ahead of the game’s launch last year.
Nesmith left Bethesda in 2021 and, last week, announced he’s part of new indie developer NEARstudios creating a sim game called Hawthorn that’s Skyrim meets Stardew Valley (see trailer above).
Do you think Bethesda games should be more polished? Or would you want to see bug lists ahead of a game’s launch?