Bethesda will not let fan complaints and criticisms define what games it works on or releases.

That’s according to PR and marketing dude Pete Hines, who said he’s well aware of a critical fanbase, but won’t let the dissenting voices influence the publisher’s plans with the likes of Skyrim, Fallout and Doom.

“We’re aware of it, but we’re not going to let it define what we do,” Hines said in an interview with GamesRadar.

“Ultimately, we’re going to try and do the things that we think are the best for the games that we’re making, because that’s, honestly, all I can really control.

“I went to Todd [Howard, Skyrim creator] a couple of E3s ago and said ‘everybody’s going to ask us about The Elder Scrolls 6. You have to help me, you have to help me come out and say what the studio’s path is, and when The Elder Scrolls 6 is coming, to try and manage expectations’.”

Fans may cry for The Elder Scrolls 6 when Bethesda announces Skyrim for Switch, or Fallout 4 VR when it announces Doom VFR, but Hines made it clear that his development teams “aren’t just a vending machine where you press for the soda and they just go back and forth – they want to be able to stretch their legs creatively, or try a new idea, or do something different and not just fall into the same pattern.”

He pointed to an example of another development team’s success this year, praising Guerilla Games’ for stepping away from Killzone to create Horizon Zero Dawn. “It might be my favorite game this year,” he said.

“I think you see a lot of developers do that, and quite honestly, if we didn’t have folks break from it then you don’t get Horizon Zero Dawn. Like, how unbelievable is that game? And if [Guerrilla] just stayed on that path for what they were known for, you’d never get that game.

“I think that’s true of a lot of studios, right? You don’t get The Last of Us if [Naughty Dog] just kept churning out Uncharted games.”

https://www.vg247.com/2017/09/29/bethesda-fan-criticisms-wont-define-what-we-do/

" You don’t get The Last of Us if [Naughty Dog] just kept churning out Uncharted games. "

How ironic.

Anyways it's good to have a studio that more or less can do what they want. I think this is why i'm so divided on companies like Blizzard, Bethesda, and Rockstar. They're so big that a positive is that they can do creative things theoretically, but a negative is that I just don't think their games are good. I also feel like this interview is kind of awkward - it goes from "we won't let fan criticism decide how we make our games" to "we won't let fans decide what games we make" - and really I think the latter is much more honorable then the former

I guess that's nice to say. It is probably good for the people within the company to hear. But, the reality is that fan feedback does dictate what games they make. They're a business. They exist for the sole purpose of creating value for shareholders. In their case, shareholder value is increased by developing, publishing, and marketing games that the market demands.

I still can't play Skyrim on my toaster and it is 2017. Please make Skyrim Legendary Toasted edition and only then start working on Elder Scrolls 6 ...

In all seriousness though, they can only milk their back catalog so much. It is getting to the point where they will either have to reveal Elder Scrolls 6 at e3 2018 or earlier, or they will have to give us a new ip. What else can they put out at this point?

You have Wolfenstein 2 and Evil Within 2 this year. It is too soon for a sequel to Doom 2016 or a Dishonored 3, and it is way too soon for a new Fallout. Prey didn't sell well enough to make them rush into a sequel so... Elder Scrolls 6 or big new ip for 2018 seems inevitable to me.

They aren't stupid. They know what fans want and they really have no option but to listen if they want to stay in business, but why rush out Elder Scrolls 6 when you can squeeze every penny out of a 6 year old game first? 

“As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it.”

Getting everything we want takes away the meaning of being pleasantly surprised. Of being pushed into uncharted territories just to end up in the most unexpected, but beautiful place possible. I agree with what Bethesda is trying to say, because I've been supporting Nintendo for the exact same reasons.

A lot of people get so hung up on what they can't have that they don't think for a second about whether they really want it. It trains us to be dissatisfied with what we have now.

Of course, if a company persists into bizarre, disjointed and cocky endeavours, then it becomes another Square. It has to be a balance of both, surprising and scary adventures and at the same time comforting, familiar experiences.

Just hand The Elder Scrolls off to Zenimax's sequel squad and you're set.

Stop being impatient.

I know I would get banned for posting that picture, I hope you don't.

Well surprisingly I enjoy(ed) ESO but I really hope we get ES VI. ESIV and ESV also had a big gap between them and I remember being amazed with the difference between those two while the hardware they made it on was pretty weak for 2011.

Not sure how the hardcore Bethesda fans feel right now, but I am extreamly pleased. I have Wolfenstein II, Skyrim VR, and Doom VFR all pre-ordered on the PS Store.

I would love to see more major studios giving the same amount of support to PSVR and Switch. New form factors, and new ways to play are what makes games my favorite medium.