„The great Todd Howard says that great games are played, not made.” There is a surprising philosophy behind RPG classics

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Pete Hines, together with Todd Howard, disliked it when all Bethesda games were frequently linked to “Todd Howard’s team.” During discussions, he elaborated on Bethesda’s corporate principles and outlined issues this association presented for the game developers.

Back in 2023, a former executive from Bethesda Softworks shared some insights about his tenure at the popular game developer during an interview with Kirk McKeand on DBLtap. Notably known for creating blockbuster games such as The Elder Scrolls series, Hines addressed various aspects of working at the studio in that conversation, not just confining his remarks to a single issue.

Bethesda = Todd Howard

At Bethesda Softworks, Hines played a significant role in aspects pertaining to the publishing phase. To distinguish it from the studio responsible for creating the Elder Scrolls series (which consisted of only two games at that time), they kept this entity separate from the latter.

It’s worth noting that prior to a certain point, Bethesda Game Studios was commonly known simply as “Bethesda”. This situation often caused confusion, as games published under the Bethesda Softworks label were frequently mistakenly attributed to Todd Howard and Hines. Even after Bethesda Game Studios officially changed its name, this misattribution persisted, causing frustration for both parties.

The uproar surrounding the creation of a new game by Bethesda was exhausting for them, as everyone seemed to assume it was Todd Howard’s team at work. In frustration, he expressed, “Why are they always associating me with Sea Dogs or other games?” As a solution, they came up with a new name for the studio and publisher, but alas, the situation remained unchanged. People persisted in linking the game to Bethesda, repeating ‘Bethesda this,’ ‘Bethesda that,’ ‘Bethesda, Bethesda, Bethesda.’

It might be that the prolific production period of Bethesda Game Studios has come to an end, given how few new titles they’ve released in the last ten years. In fact, we are still anticipating updates about The Elder Scrolls 6, which has been in development for over seven years since its existence was confirmed.

“Great games are played, not made”

That’s what Todd Howard thinks, or at least that’s what Pete Hines claims.

As a game enthusiast, I’d say it like this: “I firmly believe, much like Todd Howard does, that the true essence of a great game isn’t solely in its creation, but in the experience players have while playing it. The real definition of ‘good’ or ‘not-so-good’ comes from the enjoyment and interactions players have with it.

In essence, this implies that no part of the game is considered complete until it has been thoroughly tested in real-world play. For instance, consider the combat system within The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which underwent three revisions; the developers were reluctant to discuss it until a final version was approved and deemed satisfactory.

During the process of creating Oblivion, the combat systems underwent three different transformations. Thus, we chose not to disclose specific details about the combat mechanics because we were unsure if the current version was the final one. Consequently, we’re focusing our efforts on highlighting aspects of the game that we believe will strongly appeal to players.

In a similar vein, this philosophy sometimes led to unanticipated outcomes – for instance, a tester of the initial Dishonored version inadvertently ended up with the ability to possess a fish. The creators hadn’t foreseen this scenario, but eventually it was incorporated into the final game. This unexpected feature, however, added more workload for the team as it necessitated addressing aspects such as how the fish possession would influence the gameplay (or even the narrative). In Hines’ words, “all of a sudden, water became significant,” necessitating consideration of its role in the game.

We encourage you to read the full interview with Pete Hines at DBLtap.

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2025-09-09 12:03