Bethesda Game Studios director and executive producer Todd Howard considered retirement at one point, but no longer thinks about it as he enjoys working at the studio.
During a recent interview with Bloomberg’s investigative journalist Jason Schreier, Bethesda Game Studios director and executive producer Todd Howard shared that he once seriously thought about what retirement might look like, but those thoughts have since faded as he continues to enjoy leading the studio’s biggest projects. “The truth is there was a period of time a while back where I pondered what does it look like? Not is it imminent, but what does it look like? And I no longer do,” he said. “I see the work we’re doing. I just love it. I love working with these people. It’s really not something I think about.”
The Bethesda Game Studios director and executive producer added that seeing veteran developers across the industry continue to create great games has also influenced his decision to keep working. “Some folks in our industry that are a little older than me, they’re just making great stuff, too,” he stated. “So, it’s not something I’ve been thinking about.”
Howard has been with Bethesda Game Studios for decades and has directed or produced some of the industry’s most influential RPGs, including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Starfield. He discussed the growth of Bethesda from a relatively small development team into a multi-studio organization, acknowledging that the expansion came with “a lot of growing pains” and that the company made “a lot of mistakes” along the way.
The Bethesda Game Studios director and executive producer talked about the studio’s ongoing work on The Elder Scrolls VI and confirmed that Fallout 5 is in development. He also discussed Bethesda’s newly announced collaboration with Obsidian Entertainment on another Fallout project, though he refrained from sharing any specifics. He mentioned that the collaboration is only “starting now” while clarifying that the franchise will continue to be managed by Bethesda Game Studios.
