What Are Bethesda Working On… A Look At Their Studios
Bethesda had a pretty decent 2023, they managed to surprise the world with Hi-Fi Rush, but then sadly let down the world with Redfall and then delight the world, mostly, with Starfield.
That does not account for the updates to Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online, or the shadow release at least as a soft launch of The Elder Scrolls Castles on Android. So like I said, a decent year, but what does 2024 have in store for the much beloved developer? Let us take a look and see what we can find out.
Alpha Dog Games
Last Game Released: Mighty DOOM | Series: Wraithborne
As far as we can work out Mighty DOOM is going to keep the studios attention for another year, if not longer. There is no word on the studio making anything new, they don’t appear to have any jobs they are looking to fill, so its likely this year will be all about content updates and not much else.
Arkane Studios
Lyon
Last Game Released: Deathloop | Series: Dishonored series
2021 saw Deathloop make its debut and then a year later Xbox got it, but since then the Lyon branch of Arkane has been very silent, but we learnt at the 2023 Game Awards what is next for the studio, Blade. Details on the game are very light, we don’t even have any platforms listed at this stage. You would assume just Xbox and PC, but as Xbox have not actually claimed that, it is possible the game will make its way to PlayStation 5 as well. Given that the game was just announced and there is no release window, its unlikely we shall hear any more on it for a while. While that reveal trailer was cool, it doesn’t really tell us much about the game, these concept art pieces however, provide an idea of what to expect.
Austin
Last Game Released: Redfall | Series: Prey
2023 was meant to be a good year for the Austin team of Arkane, as Redfall was set to take a bite out of gamers time, sadly the game launched in, lets say a rough way. Thankfully the team have been releasing a number of updates to the game, the last had a big update to AI and enemy spawns.
Given that the team have not stated updates are done, which is a good thing, expect to see their name a few more times throughout 2024 as more are rolled out to players. How long the support goes for is the better question, most Bethesda games get really long term support, so fingers crossed that is the same for this one.
Bethesda Game Studios
Washington D.C.
Last Game Released: Starfield | Series: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series
Last year we said that the studio is going to be all about Starfield, but there was a chance of something else as well. Specifically we said this:
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.
Elder Scrolls Castles is a new mobile game, which has soft launched on Android. Of course that game will get updates across 2024, including a full release, hopefully. As for Starfield, the game will likely get a few updates across the year, as for the Shattered Space expansion, which we know nothing about, that may not or may not release in 2024. Given the lack of details, its entirely possible that it won’t land until 2025, however their last two main games, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4, had DLC land within a year of each games release. For now we wait, there are plenty of planets still to explore though.
AUSTIN
Last Game Released: Fallout 76 | Series: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series
The Austin arm of Bethesda Games Studio is where Fallout 76 gets its life blood from, with the Atlantic City update launching Part 1 last year and Part 2 still to come. Given that we are getting constant updates for the game and are likely going to get another Expedition this year, if not a bunch of smaller updates. Once the yearly roadmap comes out, we will have a better idea.
DALLAS
Last Game Released: Starfield | Series: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series
The Dallas branch of BGS is a support studio for the main branch, so they were or still are working on Starfield related content, so whatever the main studio is on, that is what they are on in 2024.
MONTREAL
Last Game Released: Starfield | Series: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series
Considered a sister studio to the main location, Montreal is the newest of the four arms and they helped with Starfield in 2023. This year will be like the others, with their names attached to content as it comes, but they shouldn’t be doing anything more.
id Software
Dallas
Last Game Released: Quake Champions | Series: DOOM series, Quake series, Commander Keen series
We are almost at 4 years since the last release of DOOM, which saw Eternal release in March and of course a year after the DLC landed. While Quake Champions did release in 2022, the game hasn’t made that much of a splash on the global seen like DOOM had, so what is next for the studio?
It is hard to say at this point what their next game could be. DOOM Eternal wrapped up that storyline fairly well, Quake does better as a multiplayer title at least historically, Rage got a game a few years back which didn’t set the world on fire and Commander Keen is a has been. There is Wolfenstein of course, but that series has been incredibly well curated by the folks over at MachineGames, so its doubtful something will change that. We know the studio is looking to hire a lot of roles, including a few artists, so they are clearly working on something. There are reports floating around about a Mandalorian game that is being made by the devs, but there is no clear source for where those came from, so take that with a massive grain of salt. Given the timeline of development, we might hear from the team this year, but a release likely won’t happen until 2025.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt is the tech arm for id, so the engine that made slaughtering thousands of demons possible, it was created there. The group are looking to fill a few programmer roles, which would make sense if the rumours of a new idTech8 game engine coming are accurate, it could also be a reason why there has been no new game from the main team yet. Either way, we will see this groups name in the credits of whatever is being worked on in Dallas, but for now we won’t hear from them much in 2024.
MACHINEGAMES
Last Game Released: Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot | Series: Wolfenstein series
We are now approaching 3 years since the first teaser for Indiana Jones was released, the game that is as the movie released last year. In that time, MachineGames has been radio silent, like an archaeologist sneaking through a nazi castle. The studio have never been one to rush things, but 3 years without anything is a bit much, but perhaps that is set to change in 2024.
Todd Howard is meant to be leading the charge on the game, even though there is an entire ocean between him and the studio, but ignoring that, with Starfield out the door, his attention should now be focused on this title. The only reason its unlikely to see anything this year is that MachineGames are hiring a number of roles across a variety of disciplines, some of which might critical to a new game being completed. The other potential reason is that Jerk Gustafsson, co-founder of the studio is getting ready to open a satellite studio this year. A new trailer is possible in June, but beyond that there won’t be much else for this one.
ROUNDHOUSE STUDIOS
Last Game Released: Redfall | Series: None
Whilst they have spent the last few years doing work on Starfield, there isn’t much we know about Roundhouse Studios, beyond their history of course. There is no official website for the studio, in fact if you search on the official Bethesda website for them, the only mentions you will get back are from the acquisition stories.
Given their apparent mystery, there is no telling what the studio is working on now and while there was a rumour a few months back from that Xbox leak, that they were working on that Disney-licenced game, given that Blade has appeared, its unlikely to be that, so honestly we just have to wait and see.
TANGO GAMEWORKS
Last Game Released: Hi-Fi Rush | Series: X
In the past 10 years Tango Gameworks have released 5 games, though you will only know of 4 of them. The Evil Within series kick started the studios trajectory and then the spooky, though not quite as bloody Ghostwire: Tokyo kept it going. Before the release of their next game, studio founder Shinji Mikami stated he wanted to see the studio create more than horror/spooky, which many thought mean something new was now in development. Surprise, only a few months later the studio released Hi-Fi Rush to players without warning and it was a hit. That 5th title is Hero Dice a mobile only game that released in selected Asian countries.
Of course, as the wave of enjoyment for Hi-Fi Rush was crashing back down, it was revealed that Mikami-san would be leaving Tango Gameworks and taking a bit of time before jumping back in elsewhere. Why was he leaving now, he has stated he wants to keep making games, part of me thinks its because he wants to be more indie like Kojima, but another part thinks he enjoys the start up process, either way he will do what he wants. Without him though, can the studio deliver great games? It is hard to say, the studio is not massive and reports state that Hi-Fi Rush was developed alongside Ghostwire: Tokyo, so with one game hitting 1 year old and the other approaching 2, it’s unlikely whatever is next will be revealed soon.
Zenimax Online Studios
Maryland
Last Game Released: The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom | Series: The Elder Scrolls Online
2023 saw the team at ZeniMax Online release more content and expansions for The Elder Scrolls Online, which is no real surprise, what was different is that one of those updates was actually just fixes for the game, rather than new content.
2024 will be a massive year for their game as on April 4th, the game officially turns 10 years of age and while there will be in-person celebrations in the Netherlands and Germany, those who don’t live near those can enjoy in-game celebrations. As the console release didn’t happen until over a year later, the celebration will run for around 15 months as well, which is nice. But what about details? Well the studio generally hosts a live-stream in January, where they outline details on what is coming up and while it has been confirmed to be taking place, there is no date or time yet. So give it a few weeks and the year will be much more detailed.
SAN DIEGO
Last Game Released: None | Series: None
There isn’t a lot that we know about the San Diego branch of ZeniMax Online, we know they have been around for a good number of years and whatever the new ip is that they are creating, has been in development for over 5 years and has a team of a few hundred folks working on it.
That is it, the studio has a number of open roles across a few disciplines, but for the most part they are being very silent on what they are working on. One interesting aspect of the game though is that it is going to be on an all-new game engine and will have something to do with Azure, which is the online network of Microsoft and is what powers Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Hungry
Last Game Released: Land It! | Series: Tower Land, World Traveler
If you thought that ZeniMax Online was done with just the two studios, then surprise. In April 2023 the team bought the Hungarian game studio Nemesys Games, rebranding the studio as ZeniMax Online Hungry. The team have been providing assistance on ESO for a number of years, as well as other projects, so while they are working on things, it’s more in a supporting role. So their names will be in credits, but won’t be getting top billing anytime soon.
So there we go, everything we could pull together about Bethesda and its 15 main development locations. Given they had three games out in 2023, it is possible we might see a quieter year, but only time will tell on this one.
