Starfield’s Development Schedule Was More Strict Than Skyrim’s – Former Developer

One of the most popular and enduring RPGs released is in 2011 Elder Scroll 5: Skyrim. There may be many reasons for the title’s persistent popularity, such as external factors such as community support due to large-scale modifications, but it is not possible to discount the game’s own features.

According to former Bethesda developer Nate Purkeypile, this is because developers have the time and freedom to add things to the game. He spoke to PCGAMER at GDC 2025 and worked as a Purkeypile Skyrim As an artist around the world, Bethesda made it clear that she is not strict about sticking to the development schedule.

“We had quite the freedom to do something,” he said of how development was happening in Bethesda. “What people know was Blackreach…it wasn’t completely unplanned.

Even something like the addition of werewolf Skyrim According to Purkeypile, it was originally a side project. He said, “It was originally a man with the dog’s head and someone hugged it to himself to make it great.”

“A lot of great things Skyrim It came from the freedom to do what you want, in contrast to this “checklist design” and “design by committee.” ”

However, since the growth of Bethesda’s development team, the company has become much more stringent about its schedule, especially in recent titles. Starfield. “You’re basically going to be struggling to do that,” Purkeypile said, contrasting with the company’s old development style and how it operates more recently, “it’s all costly.”

“If everyone is doing that within 500 people, that’s confusing,” he said. “But are you with 100 people? It’s much easier to manage, and where did a lot of interesting stuff come from?”

Ultimately, Purkeypile admits that he enjoyed working in the studio more when he was working on such titles. Fallout 3 and Skyrim. His enjoyment of working at Bethesda began to fade as the company hired more developers to tackle larger projects.

“We were around 65-110 people and I really enjoyed working at Bethesda. Fallout 3 and Skyrim, As I grew and grew, I reduced it much,” he said.

Since its release, Bethesda’s latest RPG, Starfield, A complex and critical response was obtained. But nonetheless, the title has probably proven to be quite substantial. In November 2024, Bethesda announced that it had been played by over 15 million players since its release.

The last major addition to Starfield It was through expansion Smashed space. Released in October 2024, check out the details of the DLC in a review. However, the company still has more plans for the game.

Earlier this month, Bethesda Game Studios revealed on social media platform X that its content is planning Starfield 2025. Although they did not give specific details, the company said it was talking about plans for the “When Time is Right” RPG in 2025.