Kurt Kuhlmann, a former veteran Bethesda developer and long-time Elder Scrolls loremaster, has just given an official explanation as to why The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim never received a Fallout: New Vegas-like spinoff. According to Kuhlmann, the decision not to pursue a Skyrim spinoff rests primarily on the shoulders of Bethesda Executive Producer Todd Howard.
Joining the company in 1996, Kurt Kuhlmann’s first Bethesda Softworks project was The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Shortly after Daggerfall‘s launch, Kuhlmann became a key writer on The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, and wrote the Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition, a booklet included with physical copies of the game that established much of the foundational Elder Scrolls lore that’s still used today. While Kuhlmann left Bethesda in 1998, he returned in 2003 to write for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Kuhlmann remained at Bethesda until 2023, co-leading development on Skyrim and working on Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield.
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Image via Bethesda -
Image via Bethesda -
Image via Bethesda Softworks
Three years after his split from Bethesda, Kurt Kuhlmann has been interviewed by the FRVR podcast. During the 2-hour interview, Kuhlmann was asked why Bethesda never pushed for an Elder Scrolls spinoff in the same vein as Fallout: New Vegas. Kuhlmann believes that New Vegas essentially created a divide in Fallout‘s fan-base, where some believed that Obsidian Entertainment should take over the franchise’s reins. Kuhlmann explains he doesn’t “know that Todd [Howard] wanted to create that situation again for The Elder Scrolls.”
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Interestingly, Obsidian Entertainment has just been moved to Bethesda’s remit following the most recent round of Xbox layoffs. An Elder Scrolls spinoff still doesn’t seem likely, however, as Obsidian is confirmed to be working on a brand-new Fallout game, and Bethesda itself is still hard at work on The Elder Scrolls 6.
Kuhlmann goes on to admit that Todd Howard “is very protective” of the Elder Scrolls IP, at least based on what he experienced during his long tenure at Bethesda, suggesting again that perhaps Howard didn’t want an Elder Scrolls spinoff to be made by another studio. Kuhlmann also theorizes that Bethesda was in no rush to deliver a new Elder Scrolls game as the studio believed The Elder Scrolls Online was delivering enough content with its continuous expansions and updates.
In the same interview, Kurt Kuhlmann was asked about the possibility of getting a sequel to 2023’s Starfield. Kuhlmann claims that the original game wasn’t “anywhere near successful enough to do a Starfield 2,” and that he’d be “very surprised” if a sequel was ever made. In a PC Gamer interview earlier this year, Kuhlmann shed a bit more light on why he left Bethesda after two decades at the company. Essentially, Kuhlmann said that his leadership role became more managerial in nature and less hands-on as Bethesda grew into a larger company, and that growth eventually led to communication issues and decisions he didn’t agree with.
- Released
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November 11, 2011
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
