MinnMax Interview - Skyrim’s Lead Designer On Starfield’s Origins, Stress, And Bethesda’s Evolution

Ben Hanson interviews Bruce Nesmith about his long career at Bethesda Softworks, where he was the lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, senior systems designer for Starfied, and overall design director for the studio. He started at the legendary RPG studio in 1995, so we have a lot of ground to cover. He talks about the growth of Bethesda and some of the natural pitfalls they've fallen into recently with Fallout 76 and Starfield's development. Bruce started his career in 1981 working at TSR (the company that invented Dungeons & Dragons) so we also talk about his thoughts on Baldur's Gate 3. We also cover Bethesda's first space game that never released called The 10th Planet and how The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed the studio. There's a lot in this interview, so we hope you all enjoy it and help share it online.

You can watch and share the video version of the full interview here - https://youtu.be/JDP8QvuXn0g

To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:21 - The stability of Bethesda Softworks

00:06:38 - Bethesda's recent growth and changes

00:09:33 - Fallout 76 and Todd Howard

00:19:38 - Why developers lose focus on what gamers want

00:23:03 - Thoughts on Baldur's Gate 3

00:27:50 - Why Bruce left Bethesda

00:32:23 - The reaction to Starfield's release

00:35:24 - Designing Starfield's limited exploration

00:39:16 - The origins of Starfield

00:44:25 - Choosing to retire after Microsoft's acquisition

00:45:58 - Writing his Loki Redeemed novel trilogy

00:51:39 - Thoughts on tabletop design

00:52:40 - Making D&D games for TSR in the 1980s

01:01:49 - Hired at Bethesda

01:06:54 - Working with Todd Howard in 1995

01:08:55 - Returning to Bethesda for Oblivion

01:10:17 - Choosing the next region for The Elder Scrolls series

01:13:05 - Bruce's impact on The Elder Scrolls VI

01:15:26 - The downsides of long game development

01:19:53 - Can you pivot in development after a game like Cyberpunk releases?

01:22:38 - The most influential RPGs in Bruce's life

01:23:57 - The impact of Skyrim

01:25:13 - How The Elder Scrolls II almost destroyed Bethesda

01:29:29 - The downfall of 10th Planet, Bethesda's first space game

01:38:19 - Conclusions from Bruce