Bethesda made a short announcement today, but to anyone who knows who Bethesda are the 80 words on their blog could mean a hell of a lot. What they said was completely unprecedented: Bethesda will have an E3 press event for the first time ever. So let’s get the rumour train going…
Major software companies like Ubisoft and EA have had E3 press events for years, as well as a large majority of gaming software/ hardware companies, for a lot of them it’s the biggest event of the year. But Bethesda’s never even had a booth so their appearance raises obvious questions. They are not a title a year, same generic garbage developer like Ubi or EA, who have multiple major franchises running simultaneously and therefore plenty to talk about at the show. Bethesda take a slower approach, but when they release a game it is almost always worth the wait.
Bethesda Softworks is a publisher that recently has worked to put out games like Dishonored, Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Evil Within. Bethesda Game Studios, famously worked on the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series for years, their most popular endeavors and some of the objectively greatest games ever made.
So it stands to reason that Bethesda is planning to unveil something big. It also seems likely it would be a new game in the Elder Scrolls or Fallout series. An elder scrolls would be nice to make up for the ESO shambles, but we are also long overdue a Fallout, maybe both… I can dream. I’m not sure you’d plan an E3 event for any other reason.
Out of the two, Elder Scrolls seems unlikely. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released in 2011, and still has a large fan base and most of us will never be done revisiting it, especially with the active modding community adding to it for them. Plus they are still trying to make The Elder Scrolls Online happen, and moving to a free to play model may breathe some life back into the game.
Fallout 4, on the other hand. Well Fallout 3 the last game in the series developed by Bethesda themselves, was back in 2008. Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian, was in 2010, 5 years ago. So I have decided Fallout 4 is now long overdue.
There is always the third option, it could be a totally new IP which would be exciting, and especially if they do it in keeping with the big open world style they are known for. Im all for a new world and a new story, as long as the details and the gameplay meets the standards they have already set.
Whatever happens, it’s something big, I’ll say it now, whatever they do it’s probably GOTY for either 2015 or 2016.