Bethesda playing nice with everyone is refreshingly glorious in 2018

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Bethesda is currently one of the biggest video games developer and publisher in the world. With a slate of highly regarded IP, including RPGs like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, First Person Shooters such as Doom and Wolfenstein, horrors like The Evil Within or something that blends multiple genres such as Rage 2 or Prey. Their games don’t only sell well, they engage and delight the masses. Even their recent press events have been memorable. From their reveal of the Alexa version of Skyrim to their Game Awards video highlighting the importance of single player games, Bethesda is out to be everyone’s best friend. They’re even doing brilliant things in the multiplayer world. They continue to work to make Elder Scrolls Online a fan favorite experience that is also accessible to newcomers (like me) while having wonderful multiplayer options in Doom and Quake. We can hear them saying the right things, we can read about their critical success, can we see their actions complement the rest of their efforts? Let’s look at their relationship with the big three to find out.

 


Nintendo


The Nintendo Switch is the world’s hottest console right now. It’s absolutely blowing up and people are in love. With Nintendo’s world class first party line up combined with the USP of console gaming anywhere there’s only one thing missing: Third Party Support. Luckily Bethesda are willing to contradict this. In the hybrid console’s first eighteen months on the market Bethesda has made an impressive statement of intent. Todd Howard’s beloved The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Nazi killing simulator Wolfenstein 2, demon slaying thrill ride Doom and free to play strategy title Fallout Shelter. That is some of the biggest franchises in the gaming pantheon. With the recently announced Doom Eternal set to launch on Nintendo Switch alongside other platforms, then it’s clear Bethesda weren’t a one trick pony. They even gave the Dovahkin the Master Sword. The better news? All of these games actually run well on Switch. They aren’t lazy or poor ports. Bethesda have even made it clear they’d love to see Rage 2 hit the Switch. Bethesda have provided amazing support to the Nintendo Switch so far and look set to continue that in the future.

 


PlayStation


Some people will have the pitchforks at the ready here. “You can’t even get full mods on PS4 on Bethesda games!” Famously that’s Sony’s fault. “Elder Scrolls Legends might not come to PS4 due to the lack of cross progression!” Famously that’s Sony’s fault. What have Bethesda actually done then? PSVR support. They’ve brought the game that can be played on everything, from PS3 to Switch to a fridge, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The entire Skyrim experience can be played in virtual reality. I shouldn’t even have to say anything else, this is fantastic. Given that most AAA developers aren’t bothering to provide AAA PSVR content; Star Wars Battlefront got a fifteen minute VR mission, so did Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, it’s amazing that Bethesda has put an entire, 150 hour critically acclaimed RPG onto the PlayStation headset. They also brought Doom VFR. This isn’t on the same scale but it’s another high end experience on the platform. Wolfenstein Cyberpilot is set to come to PSVR when it launches soon. Even Prey has a PS VR mode. So the PS VR support is strong, but what else? PS Now. There is an absolute ton of Bethesda support for PS Now. You can play classics like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout: New Vegas or lesser known titles such as Brink or Rage. It’s a really impressive showing from the mega publisher.

 


Xbox


Last but not least, we have Xbox. What do we think of when we think of Bethesda and Xbox? Horse armor. In 2018? Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. That’s right, you’ll be able to play the upcoming multiplayer Fallout title on the Xbox family before anywhere else. In 2018, where most third party publishers are flocking to Sony and the unbelievably popular PS4 there is a strong show of courtship for Bethesda to bring Fallout to Xbox first, including showing their E3 trailer at the Microsoft conference before their own. With Xbox platforms also being the exclusive console home for the full range of mods then this is another strong sign of a professional relationship between the two gaming giants. Anything else? Xbox Game Pass. The subscription based gaming service where you can download and play new, old, newish, AAA, indie and everything in between titles has excellent Bethesda support. There’s Fallout 4, Doom, Rage, Oblivion and more. Luckily there’s one more addition after this. X enhancements. Bethesda hasn’t pulled any punches when it comes to supporting the world’s most powerful console. Even 360 titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 have 4K updates. Recent releases like Doom and Wolfenstein 2 run in native, 2160p 4K.

So there we have it. Kudos to Bethesda for playing nice with Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. Not only are they providing fantastic and varied support to each platform, they’re continuing to pull out all the stops with their multiplatform releases and showmanship. In a couple of months we’ll be sharing thoughts on Fallout 76, we have The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield to look forward to as well as whatever surprises they have up their sleeve like the upcoming Elder Scrolls: Blades mobile title. You bet we’ll cover it here, and no doubt sling Bethesda more praise while we’re at it. Stick to thelootgaming.com for all your gaming news and reviews.