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What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Bethesda's games? Expansive open worlds that can draw you in for hundreds of hours? Well-written questlines where you inadvertently destroy the faction you're playing for? Rich lore that can rival literary classics with its nuance and attention to detail? Well, while some surely associate the studio's titles with these qualities, for many others, the very word "Bethesda" has become synonymous with the hilarious and game-breaking bugs that have plagued their games since the early 2000s.
From flying mammoths and items flying uncontrollably when you try to move them, to land swimming and corpse ragdolls stretching all across the map – the list of the most iconic Bethesda bugs seems endless. The pinnacle of this chicanery was undoubtedly Fallout 76, where bugs were so varied and plentiful that YouTuber Joseph Anderson created a three-hour video at one point just to catalog some of the issues the game had at launch.
Unfortunately, it seems that The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, almost guaranteed to launch someday considering the love AAA studios have for sequels, won't be much different, as Skyrim Lead Designer Bruce Nesmith has admitted that Bethesda simply can't release a bug-free game.
Speaking to VideoGamer, Nesmith explained that the sheer size and complexity of Bethesda's games make it impossible to ship them without bugs. He also noted that studios are usually aware of most of the bugs in their games before launch, suggesting that many of the issues you encounter could have been addressed but weren't.
"When a developer releases a game, they know all the things that are broken with it, these aren't mysteries. I mean, every now and then you get a bug that's like, 'Holy s**t, I didn't know that was going to happen,' but for the most part, you know it," the developer said in the interview. "[Games are] so large, so complex, particularly Bethesda games, because you have so many working elements that are trying to interact with one another, that to have a bug-free release is impossible. There is no game on the market that is bug-free."
Nesmith continued by admitting that Bethesda's game titles, shockingly, would have benefitted from some extra polish and pointing out that the gaming community was once more forgiving, often overlooking technical issues because of the sheer amount of content and experiences that titles like Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Oblivion had to offer.
"I will be the first person to say that Bethesda Games could have a higher degree of polish. 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," he said.
The developer further attempted to reinforce his point by explaining that quality assurance comes at a cost, and even if a game is delayed to address many of the known bugs, it still wouldn't be perfect.
"That level of polish also comes at a price. Are you willing to let the game sit for six more months and be delayed six more months in order to try to polish it? You're still not going to get perfection, it's just going to be better," commented Nesmith. "So at some point, you have to make the decision to publish, and to publish something you know has bugs. You've got a list of them – all 700 or whatever – and they're out there anyway because I can't fix them all."
When asked whether game development companies should notify players that games have bugs before the release, Nesmith refused to provide a simple yes-or-no answer, instead going on to explain that it is a difficult issue the marketing department has to solve.
"It's an interesting problem, because when you're in marketing, what you're looking to do is manage expectations," was the reply. "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?"
Needless to say, when the interview was published, many individuals were not too happy about Nesmith's statements, chiding the developer for being stuck in the past and trying to downplay the issue.
For some, the idea of the Lead Designer of, let's be honest, the most influential RPG of all time, openly admitting that Bethesda usually knows about the bugs but doesn't fix them because "games have bugs because they're big, deal with it" seemed preposterous, and considering that some of these bugs can make the games unplayable, like broken horse carts in Skyrim intro or Fallout 76's all-consuming void, it's easy to understand why.
Others were also frustrated with Nesmith's argument about the time required for thorough QA, a frustration that is also rather understandable. Given that the era when AAA studios could produce masterpieces in 1.5 to 2 years is long gone, and with The Elder Scrolls 6 still without a release window 13 years after Skyrim's launch, one question comes to mind: "How much longer do you need?"
And what about you, what do you think about Nesmith's revelations? Is it possible for big-league developers to ship games without bugs (at least game-breaking ones)? Tell us in the comments!
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