Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself retaining a publishing function. The studio is led by Todd Howard as executive producer and Ashley Cheng as studio director. Bethesda Game Studios operates three satellite studios, one in Montreal and two in Texas, and employs 400 people as of July 2018.
History
In 2001, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, decided that the two operational units at Bethesda Softworks, development and publishing, should be split apart. Subsequently, Bethesda Softworks retained the publishing, while development staff was moved to the newly established Bethesda Game Studios.On December 9, 2015, ZeniMax Media announced the formation of Bethesda Game Studios Montreal, a new Bethesda Game Studios location in Montreal, Quebec. Led by Yves Lachance, the former head of Behaviour Interactive, the studio was set to broaden the portfolio of games across all gaming platforms.
On March 9, 2018, Austin, Texas-based BattleCry Studios, another ZeniMax Media subsidiary, was rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Austin.
On August 10, 2018, Escalation Studios was rebranded as Bethesda Game Studios Dallas.
Subsidiaries
- Bethesda Game Studios Montreal in Montreal, Quebec; founded in December 2015.
- Bethesda Game Studios Austin in Austin, Texas; founded as BattleCry Studios, a subsidiary of ZeniMax, in October 2012, and re-arranged as part of BGS in March 2018.
- Bethesda Game Studios Dallas in Dallas, Texas; founded as Escalation Studios in 2007, acquired by ZeniMax in February 2017, and re-arranged as part of Bethesda Game Studios in August 2018.
Games developed
In 2015, the studio entered into the mobile gaming market with Fallout Shelter based on the same franchise, which gained 50 million players by mid-2016. In February 2017, Howard said that they are in development of another mobile title following onto the success of Fallout Shelter. This was revealed in 2018 to be '.
In 2016, Howard confirmed that while they are developing The Elder Scrolls VI, it was still a long way to the game's release. Meanwhile, two other significant projects are in development which are expected to be released prior to The Elder Scrolls VI. On May 30, 2018, Fallout 76 was announced. On June 10, 2018, during Bethesda's E3 2018 conference, the other project in development was revealed to be the company's first new intellectual property in 25 years, Starfield, which is in production with no specific platform details revealed. Howard revealed that Fallout 76 was Bethesda Game Studios' first online-only role-playing survival game. The game has received a notable amount of criticism from players and critics.
| Year | Title | Genre | Platform |
| 2002 | ' | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, Xbox |
| 2004 | IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 | Racing | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| 2006 | ' | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2008 | Fallout 3 | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2011 | ' | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2015 | Fallout Shelter | Simulation | Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2016 | ' | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2017 | ' | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 |
| 2017 | Fallout 4 VR | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows |
| 2018 | Fallout 76 | Action role-playing | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2019 | Action role-playing | Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch | |
| rowspan="2" | Starfield | rowspan="2" | rowspan="2" |
| The Elder Scrolls VI | - | - | - |
Expansion packs
Awards
- 2011 Spike Video Game Awards — Studio of the Year
- 2015 The Game Awards — Developer of the Year