No, don’t throw your keyboard through the screen yet. Let’s think this through: “Bethesda Game Studios, developer of Elder Scrolls and Fallout, could be working on a Game of Thrones project. There’s very little detail however, and it’s largely supposition at this point.” Why is this maybe not such a bad thing? I’ll tell you why.
Mods.
Mods are what Bethesda games are more or less all about. Well, the single-player ones, anyway. Don’t get me wrong: Skyrim and Fallout [INSERT FAVORITE GAME HERE] are rock-solid RPGs. But a large part of their replay value is in the vigorous modding communities that Bethesda encourages. Everybody who plays their games mods them*. Because that is a thing that happens. It’s like… fan fiction, written by computer programmers. in fact, it is fan fiction, written by computer programmers.
And, it turns out: George RR Martin hates people who write fan fiction in the GoT universe. He doesn’t like it, doesn’t approve of it, tries to fight it whenever possible. So if Bethesda actually licenses a Game of Thrones RPG, then I cannot wait until Mr. Martin finds out that he will have exactly jack and [expletive deleted] to say about who mods the game, because I can guarantee you that there’s going to be a bunch of people out there determined to fix everything that’s wrong with the original IP’s plot and characters.
Why, I find that I am quite chipper about all of this, now. I might even try my hand at modding something, myself. Good for the old creative juices, yes?
Moe Lane
*OK, fine, you don’t. But you know that you have a minority opinion in that regard.
As long as Mr. Martin doesn’t demand Bethesda remove modding support as a condition of the license. Honestly, I wonder what Bethesda would really do with GoT. Do it too well and it would compete with their ES stuff (of course, don’t do it at all and someone else gets the fat stacks of cash). So, there may be a non zero chance that Bethesda jobs out a GoT game to one of their other studios (Arkane perhaps? Probably not Id…) and make something less open world so it doesn’t step on ES. Plus, Bethesda proper really only makes one game at a time and dollars to donuts they are making ES6 right now, so yeah… Don’t get too invested in the prospect just yet.
… at which point someone gets pissed off and dumps a mess of GoT skins in Skyrim format on Ye Olde Interwebs and hilarity ensues.
.
Mew
Of course. However, let’s be honest… that’s bound to happen anyway.
Why yes, I *do* know I hold the minority position on modding, why do you ask?
.
I doubt I’d play a Game of Thrones Bethesda product .. and I know I hold a minority position on that too, yes .. because I found Skyrim *annoyingly* engineered to require getting really close to kill something .. which means, for me, it’s less a game than a simulation of default world.
.
That said .. let the majority enjoy!
.
Mew
So if I had the license, I’d do one of two things:
1. A Bethesda-style RPG set sometime in the Age of Valyria – there’s a lot more magic around to work with, more dragons, etc., and less worry about messing around with stuff that’s currently being plotted.
2. Some sort of strategy game around Aegon conquering the seven kingdoms.
Either would avoid the problem. #1 could even be an MMO, but that might cannibalize elder scrolls online too much.
Just play Crusader Kings 2 and use the Game of Thrones mod.
I just had a snicker become a chortle, morphing into a guffaw.
Someone will snark about Todd Howard finding yet another way to release Skyrim.