"After Fallout 76 wrapped he started working on Starfield in 2019. Left within the middle of Starfield (2021) development for a variety of factors: 1) felt like this was the best time; 2) was feeling drained and wanted to just retire and write novels; 3) MS purchase had gone through. I'm reading between the lines on that last point to mean that, "we got paid pretty good with that purchase, so I can live comfortably."
"Bethesda has always been very tight-knit with incredibly low turnover, notes that turnover only recently started to happen within industry standard recently due to various changes. Also comments how that tight-knit, low-turnover type of experience is simply not sustainable for any studio with success. For example, if there is no turnover then that means the folks at the top stay at the top and those that want to advance and lead projects don't get the opportunity."
He was Lead Designer on Skyrim and Systems Designer for Starfield.
It's actually really f*cking refreshing to hear veterans say stuff like that, I think this industry puts far too much attention and focus on veterans of a studio to the point where if a single person leaves, you'll have gamers screaming out their windows "THIS STUDIO IS DOOMED BECAUSE 1 PERSON LEFT OUT OF HUNDREDS" and I swear I don't see this in any other industry to this degree, Lmao.
I mean I'm not downplaying the contributions of some veterans, they're of course brilliant minds but there seems to be this type of thinking that only those veterans are good and all the new people entering the industry are automatic trash and will never make anything worth being excited for, if this was true then literally, the gaming industry will cease to exist in about 10-20 years when most the veterans of the 90s/2000s start retiring, Lol.
So if you're one of those who loses their shit when a veteran retires, good luck in 10-20 years-ish...
We should be more accepting of the next gen, and he is right, if there's no turnover then how can someone ever grow at a particular studio when the same dude who has been doing it for 30 years is still the one doing it? And who knows, you may then miss out on the next legendary creator because they went elsewhere where they could actually lead a particular aspect of a project.
John Johanas is a bit of a good example, IIRC he said that he had absolutely zero gaming experience but decided to join Tango, made Evil Within 2 (great) and then the amazing Hi-Fi Rush because Mikami was focused on the next generation, finding and nurturing new talent and letting them lead things instead of him.
But people still freak the f*ck out whenever a singular person leaves, Lol.
I'll say it is sad to see some veterans leave, although some are clearly washed up by that stage, Lol, others still have more to give. Sometimes it can come with concerns or well, questions about the studio, why and the future but everyone too often jumps straight to doom and shitting their pants.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 23 October 2023
