The Elder Scrolls series and Starfield have captivated players’ hearts worldwide, earning their place as pillars of modern RPG gaming. Both games show that Bethesda Game Studios has crafted these beloved titles with a distinctive style that highlights their expansive worlds, intricate storytelling, and immersive gameplay.
As the studio continues to evolve its games further, players are asking whether or not the studio will ever switch to the latest and most advanced game engine, Unreal Engine. However, in an interview, Bruce Nesmith, a lead designer at Bethesda, emphasizes that the studio doesn’t need to change its engine, as its in-house engine is perfectly suited to the studio’s needs.
Bethesda’s Creation Engine has evolved over the years. It was initially based on the now-discontinued Gamebryo engine but has undergone many updates and refinements, making it finely tuned to the specific needs of the studio’s titles, such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. This engine has helped the studio develop the expansive, intricate RPGs it is known for.
For the studio’s latest title, Starfield, they even upgraded it further and now it’s called Creative Engine 2, enhancing its performance and capabilities. Due to this extensive maintenance, Bethesda has enhanced the engine to the point that it fits its unique game design philosophy and can also provide the performance of a modern engine.
In an interview, Bruce Nesmith, Skyrim lead designer, and ex-Starfield systems designer, emphasized that the Creation Engine is not just functional but is crafted specifically to handle the complex, immersive worlds that players have come to expect from Bethesda’s games. He said:
The game engine is not the point, the game engine is in service to the game itself. You and I could both identify a hundred lousy games that used Unreal. Is it Unreal’s fault? No, it’s not Unreal’s fault.
This statement highlights that blaming a game engine for a game’s poor quality is acceptable. There are numerous games made on engines like Unreal Engine and they still fall short. The reason is that they are not executed well, and not because they didn’t use the best engine.
This proves a critical aspect of game development: the engine is merely a tool. The outcome (game’s quality) depends heavily on the developer’s talent, effort, and creativity to make use of the resources available.
In the modern gaming industry which is evolving very fast, nothing is very stable as new technologies are introduced regularly. However, developers need to understand that simply switching to a different engine, like Unreal, would not magically solve all the development challenges and improve game quality.
Just like Nesmith explained, it will have the opposite effect as such a big move would require the team to spend significant time and resources to learn the new engine, potentially hampering ongoing projects. This is why Bethesda won’t be changing its engine anytime soon, as the cost of changing outweighs any perceived benefits.
This highlights that Bethesda understands the downfalls of suddenly changing engines. So, instead of viewing the engine as a limiting factor, it put effort into utilizing and enhancing its current technology. By investing time and resources in its own engine, Bethesda has found success and now can optimize its workflows and maintain its unique identity in the gaming landscape.
In the end, Bethesda has proven over the years that the game engine serves the game, not the other way around. It is not about whether the game is using the latest engine like Unreal Engine, it’s about how effectively a studio can use the tools to bring its ambitious visions to life.
What is your favorite Unreal Engine Game? Tell us in the comment section below.
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