Bethesda has made every numbered entry in the series, and it has been a long time since there has been a spinoff that was worthwhile. With gamesas alternating between the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series (and possibly Prey which they aquired a year ago), other studios may continue to make spinoffs while Bethesda sticks with the numbered installments.

That seems to be the trend, at least, for the most part. After Oblivion, the team spent their time on Fallout 3. After Fallout 3, they are likely working on TESV, and Todd Howard has already stated that they have numerous ideas for Fallout 4. While Beth works on their current project, Obsidian has been working on Fallout New Vegas, a spinoff from Fallout 3's vision of Fallout. With Zenimax aquiring Arkane Studios (who have reportedly been working on a Bethesda project for at least a year), do you think that Arkane will be crafting an Elder Scrolls Spinoff? Remember, Arkane is the studio that made the award winning Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (the only competition on the market against TES Oblivion when it was released).


My Take: Arkane is likely working on an Elder Scrolls spinoff, given their history with first person high fantasy games, and their work on Bioshock 2 (which they were 1 of 4 supplement developers). This would also give Beth time to develope Fallout 4, while Arkane works on an Elder Scrolls spinoff like Obsidian is with New Vegas. This would give us 4 open world Betheda published/developed RPGs over 6 or so years...far more than any other developer/publisher would be capable of putting out.

Arkane studios is working with Bethesda Softworks the publisher. They are having Bethesda publish their games just like Splash Damage and id Software. There is no information saying that Bethesda Game Studios is affiliated with Arkane.

Arkane has simply joined the Zenimax family and therefor gets access to Bethesda Softworks the publisher. Not Bethesda Game Studios the developer.

Todd Howard is the one that stated his studio (Bethesda Game Studio) had contracted them to create a game. After they saw what they were doing with it, they decided it would be best to buy them. So really BGS is affiliated with Arkane, since Todd has contact with them over the project. This was stated, I BELIEVE, in the recent Eurogamer Interview with Howard. And Splash Damage is not part of the Zenimax family, but an independant developer creating Brink to be published by gamesas

Arkane Studios working on a TES game would be kinda cool though... but it's probably not what they are working on now. :shifty:

Read my post again. I never stated that Splash Damage was with the Zenimax family.

Link to your source please. I do not remember this.

He didnt exactly say it as I posted, so I apologize for that, but theres speculation to be made regarding their history and that they decided to make it a "permanent thing".

I hope so. I would love to see another developer take a crack at Elder Scrolls and see what they bring to the table.

I think it's very possible that we'll see an Elder Scrolls spin-off by Arkane in the future - but I don't think they're working on one right now.

From what I gather they have a project which is already in developement when they joined Zenimax Media. Since there was no prior announcement of a licensing deal (like we saw with New Vegas) it seems doubtful this involves the Elder Scrolls.

perhaps your right about their current project, but its hard to imagine that BS wouldnt take advantage of Arkanes RPG crafting abilities. But to speculate moreso, Bethesda doesnt always announce their licensing deals before the game is announced. Obsidian is made of former original Fallout developers, and many original fans of the series didnt like Fallout 3 simply because it wasnt made by Interplay or Obsidian. But I see what you are saying, it is a slim chance.

It's certainly possible that Bethesda and Arkane didn't have a legal obligation to announce a licensing deal and so decided to keep it under their hat.

Something else to consider, it's very possible that Zenimax Online Studios is working on an Elder Scrolls game - if Bethesda is as well this could make an Elder Scrolls title by Arkane more or less likely, it's hard to predict.

If you look at Bioshock as the model, then Prey could be in the hands of Arkane, and would be a much more probable candidate considering the amount of time the Arkane project has been in development. Bioshock had some heavy story and wackiness set against an FPS model, and Prey is right along that modicum.

You also have to consider that Prey 2 may still be developed by Human Head Studios.The press release didnt state whether Zenimax bought the publishing rights or the devopment rights. It has reportedly been in dev since 2006 (since the orginal was released), so until more news is released regarding that, it is also up in the air. Bethesda may even try to create a "open world" Prey RPG after they release their next game. It all symantics at this point, but I wouldnt rule out Bethesda developing a Prey RPG, although the original was released using id Tech 4, so maybe id would take over dev of that particular franchise using id Tech 5. Its hard to say, and its mostly wishful thinking, but thers too much info in the regard of these franchises and aquirments of various studios and IP rights.

Somewhat off-topic:

Human Head is the developer of Prey correct? There was a Human Head developer/panelist at Quake Con. I think it's likely Human Head is developing another Prey and Bethesda Softworks will publish it, since of course Prey has been filed by Zenimax way back.

Thank you Mr. Tissue Box...that sounds like the most probable,. Of course, this may be the last Prey made by Human Head if Zenimax bought the actual franchise. Why interrupt dev of a game, when you can market it and then sell it. Afterwards you take it over, and change it to your own vision, which seems to be Bethesda's trademark.

Well, Zenimax could buy Human Head Studios, but I think it's more reasonable that Bethesda Softworks will just publish their next Prey.

According to an interview with Todd Howard, Bethesda Game Studios is working on two unannounced titles...

I think we can all guess what one of them is, but what the hell is that second game? A new IP with no connections whatsoever with previous Bethesda games? :drool:

Well, the second game is only in pre-production. My guess is that the second game is Fallout 4.

Theres no telling what there next project may be. Personally, I think Fallout 4, but then again, they may choose to allow Obsidian to continue to develope Fallout games including the numbered sequel. If Human Head isnt developing Prey anymore (that is if Bethesda isnt just publishing Prey 2) then they could make a Prey RPG. I'm kinda vexed if they create a new IP because they have so much already to make better, but at the same time, I would love to see what new things they could come up with.

To be perfectly honest, BGS needs more than 1 internal team led by Todd Howard. Ideally, they should have 3 teams: 1 for numbered ES titles, 1 for numbered Fallout titles, and 1 for a Prey Franchise however that may turn out. That would run the full spectrum of fantasy from High fantasy, to desolate Apocalyptic Wasteland, to spacefaring exploration. Other studios could run the DLC and Expansion gambit such as Arkane and Obsidian, while they also provide spinoff support.

Maybe. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was a great single player game. it's just a pity there were so many issues with the multiplayer

An open world Prey RPG could be beyond awesome. :drool:
I don't think it's likely to happen though. :glare:

Todd said that the reason for Arkane being gobbled up by Zenimax is because they had commissioned them to make a game that Bethesda would publish, and they liked what they were doing so much that they decided to make them a part of the Zenimax family. I doubt that project was a TES title though, and I doubt they acquired Arkane for the sole purpose of making them make a TES spinoff. If that was the case, why didn't they integrate Obsidian into the Zenimax family? They're making a Fallout spinoff, after all.

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a TES side game from Arkane in the future however I doubt they are working on one at this time, personally.

I used to go to the Arx Fatalis forum occasionally a while back & I could have swore they said they were working on Arx 2 that then got put on the back burner while they did the Bioshock thing. If that's the case I'm guessing that is what their unannounced game will be.

Very well could be, since Bethesda would want more diversity among their games. Thats the whole reason they publish games like WET and Brink, just so they could reach a broader audience. Arx 2 could be the game they are working on, but would that really be so impressive that Zenimax would want to buy them? And if so, why would Bethesda go to them to make a game they would already be working on?

I imagine that they wouldnt integrate Obisidian because they are a medium sized company that makes a wide range of games. That and Sega has a stake in the company that Zenimax would have to buy out before they could purchase them.

Obsidian has, so far, only successfully released Kotor II, Neverwinter Nights 2 and it's expansions, and Alpha Protocol. That isn't what I'd call a wide range of games, honestly. :shrug:

And Obsidian isn't owned by Sega, or anyone for that matter. At least that's what Google tells me.