Bethesda, led by Todd Howard, is a literal machine that churns out hit titles one after another. Unfortunately, these titles, whether Fallout or a major Elder Scrolls release, have often received complaints about bugs and other issues at launch. The surprising part of all this is that the developers knew about them all along, or so at least a former senior artist has claimed in an interview from last year that is resurfacing now.
In what is a clip for a 2025 interview with Kiwi Talks (as noted by GamesRadar), Dennis Mejillones claims that roughly 95% of bugs reported by players after a Bethesda game launches are already known internally before it ships. This admission is bigger than it seems, and it might just hit your wall of Elder Scrolls 6 expectations like a wrecking ball, given how long it has been since its development started.
Todd Howard Knew About Your Complaints Before His Games Even Launched
The studio knew about its game’s bugs before launch | Image via Youtube/@lexfridman
It’s not the first time that Bethesda has been under the scrutiny of players for launching their games with a massive amount of issues they carry with them at launch. Subjectively, the worst part of it is how the studio, and Todd Howard himself, knew about them all along, and their inclusion is not the result of a possible oversight, but a debatable philosophy.
Former Bethesda senior artist Dennis Mejillones stated that 95% of the bugs and issues that are reported by players on any Bethesda game were already identified even before the game was released. What this implies is that players spend hours posting bug reports on Reddit or Steam were largely telling the studio things it already knew.
We’re gamers. We play the game. We play and see the same things that the gamers do,- We’re like, ‘ah this is not fun, or as fun, or we need to do this differently. – Dennis Mejillones
To add to this, Mejillones shared Todd Howard’s motto regarding bug reports, where the renowned director would often tell the developers in meetings how ‘we can do anything, but we can’t do everything.‘
Bethesda is known for its open-world RPGs; however, at the scale at which they are produced, there will inevitably be some trade-offs, and in this context, these trade-offs come in the form of bug fixes that are sometimes not prioritized over working on new features and content.
What This Possibly Means for the Most Anticipated RPG in Gaming History
The Elder Scrolls 6 might possibly have the same issues as past titles | Credit: Bethesda Softworks
Elder Scrolls 6, without any doubt and exaggerations, is one of the most awaited games that is currently in development, and is arguably only outmatched by GTA 6 by Rockstar Games. The last Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, came out 15 years ago, and with players having waited for the next title for such a long time, Mejillones’ statements are concerning.
If Bethesda’s established development culture involves knowingly shipping games with bugs that have already been discovered, then there is little reason to believe Elder Scrolls 6 will be immune to the same issues, especially till the studio or Todd Howard can deliver any update on the title anytime soon.
The director has also previously stated that Elder Scrolls 6 represents a return to what, according to him, is the “classic” Bethesda style, and while that might be the signature handcrafted RPG experience the studio is known for, it might also mean the same classic issues at launch.
Does this relatively recent revelation have you worried about the future of Elder Scrolls 6? Let us know about it in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
