This E3, Bethesda Softworks, publisher behind both Fallout and The Elder Scrolls offered an E3 Showcase for 2015, showing all upcoming games for the coming years. This is usually a norm for large publishers, however due to the few franchises they have to offer compared to other companies, press conferences have rarely been an option.
This year it was revealed that the highly anticipated Fallout 4, and reboot of the classic first-person shooter DOOM would be shown at the newly founded ‘Bethesda E3 Showcase’
The following was shown at the event:
• DOOM
• Battlecry
• Dishonored 2
• Dishonored: Definitive Edition
• The Elder Scrolls: Legends
• Fallout 4
It now seems that this was a unique event, and will not happen again next year. According to Pete Hines, vice president of PR and marketing at Bethesda, it is unlikely we will get a second event next year, and was a one-off due to the line-up planned for the coming months.
“I don’t know if we’ll do one next year, I don’t know if we’ll do one again. This year felt like the right time to do this kind of thing. Honestly, that’s where my focus is: A. execute on this stuff that we’re talking about and B. work with the MachineGames and Tangos and all the other studios to say ‘ok how do we do the next thing with you guys even better?’ What does that look like? And how do we push ourselves forward?’”
It seems that Bethesda are focused on making large, expansive games ensuring all major releases are highly polished before launch. From the words of Pete Hines, we can assume that Bethesda prefer quality over quantity, a trait I personally think many other large publishers should acquire.
Earlier in the interview Hines voiced his opinion on the current state of the games industry and publisher’s stances when it comes to frequent releases. He explains how they prefer to craft high-quality experiences, rather than produce new entries to franchises yearly. He gives the following statement about some publishers:
“They’d be spitting out a Skyrim 2 the year after or two years later. That’s just not how we view it. We’re not the sort of publisher that focusses on ‘what’s our 25 titles for 2015′”
With many of the announced titles launching before June next year, it is likely we will not see Bethesda make a presence at E3 2016 via a conference, however it is possible we could see content from the publisher. It is obvious that the work put into their franchises is a key element, and quality is kept at a high standard, even if there is a long wait as a result.
Source: Pete Hines Interview from The Telegraph
Matt was a regular ICXM contributor in 2015, publishing 110 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @RTEnvi.