Skyrim lead explains why “bug-free” Starfield was “impossible”, but admits Bethesda could have more “polish”

As far as open world RPGs go, Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Starfield offer some of the deepest experiences available for gamers. However, these sweeping RPGs have been fairly criticised for launching with hundreds of bugs that break quests, soft-lock players and more. While Bethesda is not unique in this regard, the studio is one of the most notorious.

In an interview with VideoGamer.com, Skyrim Lead Designer, Starfield Systems Designer and author of Mischief Maker, Bruce Nesmith, explained that game developers know the majority of bugs that are present in shipped games. After years of QA testing, hundreds of unfixed bugs are known and logged, but a “bug free release” is impossible.

A “bug-free” Starfield was impossible

Alongside discussing the reasons why Bethesdsa hasn’t switched to Unreal Engine, Nesmith explained that the complexity of Bethesda games means it’s impossible to release an experience without bugs. With 40-years of game dev experience, the ex-Bethesda developer explained that developers typically know what bugs plague their games on launch.

“When a developer releases a game, they know all the things that are broken with it, these aren’t mysteries,” Nesmith explained. “I mean, every now and then you get a bug that’s like, ‘Holy s**t, I didn’t know that was going to happen’, but for the most part, you know it.

“[Games are] so large, so complex, particularly Bethesda Games, because you have so many working elements that are trying to interact with one another, that to have a bug free release is impossible. There is no game on the market that is bug free.”

“At some point you have to make the decision to publish, and to publish something you know has bugs.”

SKYRIM LEAD DESIGNER BRUCE NESMITH

The Bethesda Benefit

Nesmith explained that modern games with millions of lines of code are always going to have bugs, particularly with the systems-driven nature of Bethesda titles. As active worlds, Bethesda titles have countless issues that could go wrong, and often they do.

Back during the release of Skyrim, and even during Fallout 4, Bethesda benefitted from a large degree of forgiveness for its technical hiccups. However, that sentiment has since disappeared, and gamers are now demanding a higher level of polish.

“I will be the first person to say that Bethesda Games could have a higher degree of polish,” Nesmith told us. “They have benefited, and when I was there I benefited, from providing such a wide and vast array of gameplay that a certain amount of lack of polish could be forgiven. Having an NPC run in place in front of a wall for a little while became acceptable because of the 17 things you could do with that NPC, whereas most games you’d be able to do two.”

“The players expectations are that the game is flawless, that it has no bugs. That is their expectation. You don’t have to like it, but it’s there.”

STARFIELD SYSTEMS DESIGNER BRUCE NESMITH

At some point, months of bug fixes becomes a cost that can’t be upheld. Eventually, the game has to release, and the round of post-launch bug fixing commences. At that point, developers already have a list of bugs that need fixing, but that comes after.

“That level of polish also comes at a price,” we were told. “Are you willing to let the game sit for six more months and be delayed six more months in order to try to polish it? You’re still not going to get perfection, it’s just going to be better. So at some point you have to make the decision to publish, and to publish something you know has bugs. You’ve got a list of them—all 700 or whatever—and they’re out there anyway because I can’t fix them all.”

The expectation of perfection

In our interview, we broached Nesmith with a question: if there’s a list of 700 known bugs, should those bugs be shared with fans on launch to temper expectations. As the Skyrim lead explained, it’s an interesting dilemma: will fans accept that certain issues are present, or will they be upset that they aren’t fixed?

“It’s an interesting problem, because when you’re in marketing, what you’re looking to do is manage expectations,” Nesmith said. “The players expectations are that the game is flawless, that it has no bugs. That is their expectation. You don’t have to like it, but it’s there. And you aren’t going to achieve it. So what marketing has to do is say, how can we get as close as possible to that expectation. How can we make it so these guys don’t hate us for what’s wrong and love us for what’s right?”

In a game as big as Skyrim, Fallout or Starfield, even bug fixing becomes a bigger job that many gamers expect. As Nesmith tells us, a bug where an NPC phases through a wall could be tied to any number of things. For example, a wall’s collision might not be set up properly, but there are thousands of walls to check, and in a game with procedural generation like Starfield, that becomes even harder.

Despite its technical issues, Bethesda has spent the past year fixing issues and adding in new content to Starfield. The sci-fi RPG has just seen its first expansion, Shattered Space, and the addition of land vehicles has made exploring even the most barren planets more enjoyable. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, and the RPG studio isn’t abandoning Statfield anytime soon.

With The Elder Scrolls 6 deep in development, all eyes are on Bethesda yet again. Can the studio replicate the massive hype of 2011’s Skyrim, will it release with hundreds of bugs? The latter, probably, as we’ve just explained, no game is bug-free, but will fans’ expectations be in check?