What are Bethesda working on - A look at their studios
After an interesting year where Bethesda released a number of games, but also delayed a number, the group is coming into 2023 with a far more loaded release schedule.
This year should see the release of Starfield and Redfall, both of course being delayed out of 2022, but we should also get the full reveal of the Indiana Jones title from MachineGames and let’s not forget id Software. With that said though, lets load in our shareware copy of “What are Bethesda working on - A look at their studios“ and see if we can’t play it.
Alpha Dog Games
Series known to them: Mighty Doom
2022 was a big year for Alpha Dog Games, their first title since being picked up by Bethesda released in full, with Mighty DOOM out on both iOS and Android devices. Apart from that small title, the studio was fairly quiet, which is inline with a mobile focused developer.
For 2023, there shouldn’t be much to get excited from, Mighty DOOM will get updates as needed and the studio is actively hiring for a number of roles, programmers, designers and artists. This could be for new Mighty DOOM content, but is more than likely associated with their next game, but whatever that is, will remain a mystery.
Arkane
Arkane Studios Lyon
Series known to them: Dishonored, Deathloop
2022 was a quiet year for the Lyon branch of Arkane, Deathloop which released for PlayStation 5 and PC back in 2021, saw its release on Xbox a year later. Included in that release was a big update that added some much requested quality of life features, but beyond that, there was nothing else from them last year.
This year is likely to be more of the same, with the focus going to be on the Austin studio, that being said, these guys should appear in the credits, as they both help each other out. There are rumours floating about that we will see some DLC for Deathloop, with the voice actors from the game stating that they are still on the books. Now there is nothing that confirms DLC, for all we know it could be Deathloop 2 or just having them on hand for tweaks to lines for whatever reason. The other thing that the studio is doing is staffing up again, they are looking for people to fill a number of roles and all that will likely be for a new game, whatever it happens to be.
Arkane Studios Austin
Series known to them: Prey, Redfall
2022 was meant to be a big year for the Austin branch of Arkane, with Redfall aiming to be released in the middle of the year, but just before the non-E3 week, the game was delayed into 2023 and nothing further was revealed about it then. This makes perfect sense, as the game was officially announced in 2021 and between then and the delay, there was no news for it at all.
2023 however seems to be the time for the studio, as the game was promised to be released this year, the problem is that we still don’t know. There were reports late last year that the game was aiming for a mid-March release, but there are now reports stating that it will now be early May. The problem with these reports is that they are just that reports, until Bethesda or Xbox tweet, share or inform otherwise, the date is just 2023. The only reason why the May date may work out, as the promise that all games shown off during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in 2022, would be out within 12 months of that broadcast. So we are likely to get a confirmed release date soon and then the countdown can begin.
Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Game Studios
Series known to them: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series, Starfield
Starfield was meant to release last year and was then delayed, which meant its 11/11 release was not going to happen, but because of that delay the studio didn’t have anything major to release. While this is the main studio for the Bethesda Games Studios team, they have been focused on Starfield and nothing else.
With the game set to release in 2023, at least according to a Bethesda help page, expect more information via the Constellation program, as we get closer to whatever release date the game has planned. With their recent titles, the team tends not to promote the game a lot, until a release date is locked in and we are a few months from it, so if the game drops in April, new details would come soon. If however the game is set to release later in the year, don’t expect to see much until later on. Outside of Starfield, it is possible that we might see something new in the mobile space, if only because it has been years since Elder Scrolls Blades and Fallout Shelter released and both games are dead of new content. Something of note is that in the recent Microsoft to FTC response, it was revealed that Bethesda Game Studios were working on additional projects, but the names were blacked out, so while they are likely on their way, there is no word on who is doing the work on whatever they are.
Bethesda Game Studios Austin
Series known to them: Fallout 76
The Austin branch of BGS is where Fallout 76 is developed and maintained and they had a big year in 2022. While their seasonal content was great, it was the addition of the first Expedition that got many players excited, giving them a chance to venture away from West Virginia. The game saw its player count top 13m, 127m Nuka-Cola’s consumed and a whole lot more.
The plans for 2023 have not yet been announced and if they stick to the same schedule as last year, won’t get revealed until late February. That lines up with when the first event of the next season kicks off, which is to be called Mutation Invasion, something that is already on the test servers. Expect a host of events, new gear, weapons and more as the year goes on, the only big question. Will we see another expedition?
Bethesda Game Studios Dallas
Series known to them: Starfield
When the studio was found they were Escalation and a few years ago when they got bought up by Bethesda, they became Bethesda Game Studios Dallas. Since 2018 the studio has been working on Starfield, providing additional support and content creation for the title.
As Starfield is the focus for BGS in 2023, expect the Dallas group to be all in on that, which alongside their smaller size, means it should be the only thing from them this year.
Bethesda Game Studios Montreal
Series known to them: Elder Scrolls series
The Montreal office is the newest group out of the four, but once they formed, they formed fast. Mostly considered a sister studio to the main office, Montreal is currently helping develop Starfield. The studio is currently looking for a lot of developers from programmers to production folks and artist, the question is for what.
With the studio helping on Starfield, it could be considered a bit to late to be hiring new artists for the game, especially if it is releasing within the next six months. There is a chance that they are already working on new DLC for the game, which would explain some of the roles, or they are looking for some of the mystery projects. Regardless on whatever they are hiring for, the focus for them is shipping Starfield, the rest will come later.
id Software
id Software
Series known to them: Doom series, Wolfenstein series, Rage series
Did you know that in 2022 id Software released a game, yeah I am guessing that is news to you. Quake Champions released into early access 5 years ago, but it was only in August that development was done and the full release took place. However, outside of that game getting its full release, there was nothing else from the home of DOOM and Quake.
This year marks the 3rd anniversary since the release of DOOM Eternal and the 2nd since the final piece of DLC launched for the game, meaning that if the studio has been working on a new title since then, we could hear about it this year. Will the game release this year, not a chance, but a reveal is quite likely. The real question is what brand will it be around? DOOM is a strong contender and while a new single player focused Quake game would be good, that series is best when multiplayer is involved. Wolfenstein is popular, but development of that series is handled now by MachineGames and that is unlikely to change. We could see something more for Commander Keen, given that mobile game was cancelled before it released, but I think the studio is done with that brand themselves. For now we wait, given QuakeCon runs in August, I expect any information on the title will be delivered there, even if a teaser comes at E3.
id Software Frankfurt
Series known to them: None
The Frankfurt studio for id Software is not a game developer, but rather an engine developer. They are the ones who make sure that the fancy idTech engine, which powers DOOM and other titles works. As such, they won’t have anything else to do but continue their tech innovation, with recruitment happening for jobs in that space still taking place.
MachineGames
Series known to them: Wolfenstein series, Indiana Jones
Since the reveal teaser for the Indiana Jones game in 2021, MachineGames has been mostly silent. I say mostly as the studio did develop some new missions for the Quake Remaster that released later in 2021, but other than that it has been radio silent.
With the 2nd anniversary since the reveal of the new Indiana Jones game, people are chomping at the bit and with the new Indiana Jones movie releasing this year, it feels like the perfect time to release the new game, or at least reveal more of it. The last Indiana Jones game you likely remember were either Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues or Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, both of which release in 2009. The last release however was 2011’s Indiana Jones Adventure World for Facebook… yeah, that one. The studio is still hiring, for Indy or something else who knows, but just before the holidays, they started pushing again and looking at the jobs, they are hiring across the board, Given the time between the announcement of the game and now, more details are clearly needed and given the last game was a Facebook title, we need something new so Indiana Jones can be treated right.
Roundhouse Studios
Series known to them: Nothing yet…
When Human Head Studios fell apart and then reformed as Roundhouse Studios, many were hoping that the PvPvE title, that was connected to a comic licence would carry on. But that seems not to be the case, so what have this newer studio being doing for Bethesda? Well it was confirmed in 2022 that they were assisting with development of Starfield, bringing the studio count up to four now.
Beyond that though, there is talk going around that the studio is still working on something else, an unannounced title. Of course, the information from that came from a LinkedIn page and has since been removed, but it did get the internet speculating. Something else of note, the studio is not currently hiring, everyone else in this list is looking to hire, but not these guys, it could mean nothing of course, just a little anecdote. With Starfield taking priority, if the studio is still working on their mystery game, we likely won’t see anything on it this year.
Tango Gameworks
Series known to them: The Evil Within series, Ghostwire Tokyo
2022 was a big year for Tango, they finally got to release their 3rd title in Ghostwire: Tokyo and it was something we loved, but they also announced a new game in Dice Hero for mobile devices in Asia. Sadly though the game failed to get any sort of audience and 5 months after it was released, it was shutdown. Outside of that Ghostwire: Tokyo saw updates land throughout the year, some were minor and some added new options to make the game offer more for players.
2023 should be an interesting year, not only will Ghostwire: Tokyo release on Xbox, because come on, but the studio should start explaining their plans for the future. Last year, just as the team was celebrating the release of Ghostwire: Tokyo, studio founder Shinji Mikami said that he wanted to change up the perception of the studio, to show that they could make something other than horror-related games, here is a translated quote from Famitsu.
“I hope to eventually change the image that Tango Gameworks currently has, at the moment, we are still seen as a studio that specialises only in survival horror. Of course, it’s nice to have fans think of us as a studio with a reputation for developing survival horror games. But we also want to be viewed as a studio that can create a wider variety of games. We will be releasing more and more new games in the future, starting with Ghostwire: Tokyo, so please give us your support.”
Does this mean we are getting a 3D Platformer ala Mario or a racing game like Need for Speed, honestly who knows. Whatever the studio is planning on bringing to gamers next, should be entertaining as all their titles have been, we just have to wait and see.
ZeniMax Online Studios
ZeniMax Online Studios
Series known to them: The Elder Scrolls Online series
9 years, 2023 marks 9 years since The Elder Scrolls Online launched and since then players have revisited parts of Skyrim and Oblivion, along with less familiar locations (at least for newer players) in Morrowind and The Imperial City. Of course, the game has taken players to places only just mentioned in the lore like The High Isle, which was the 2022 expansion. The game had some big updates in 2022, outside of the main story content, but after 9 years, there are some big changes in store for the game going forward.
ZeniMax Online Studios’ Studio Director Matt Firor, released a nice lengthy post that explained the future of the game, first things first, there will still be big updates each quarter. So sometime during the first three months of the year, a dungeon will be added to the game. In June players will get access to a full-featured chapter, meaning all the story content that has been delivered over a year, will now arrive in one go, the full reveal is expected later this month. The third quarter will see it focused on fixes and quality of life updates and then the final release of the year will be all about a new system, which will be revealed during the event later this month. So like years past there is a lot of content to enjoy, just the release of it is going to be different.
ZeniMax Online Studios San Diego
Series known to them: Nothing yet
It has been a few years since this second development studio started up and while they have plenty of talent, there is no word on what they are using it for. The game is reported to be a AAA title, but beyond that we have no idea what it could be and I doubt its “An Aardvarks Adventure”. Whatever it is, we will have to wait until they are ready to reveal.
So there you go, all we know and think we might know, about what the studios of Bethesda are up to. And yes, we know that the name of the company is technically Zenimax, most people just call them Bethesda, but what do you think, are we close or way of base? Let us know in the comments.
