The head of the studio that put out Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Fallout 3 doesn’t understand the whole Facebook gaming craze.
Bethesda Game Studios executive producer Todd Howard is not into FarmVille. In fact, he’s not into the current wave of social networking games and all, and says that he doesn’t “get it.”
Tens of millions of people are playing Facebook games every day apparently, but Howard indicates that Bethesda isn’t going for a piece of that pie. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Howard said of Facebook gaming: “I’ve got to be honest: I don’t get it. I look at it and try to understand but for now I’ve just decided to ignore it (laughter).”
Howard sees merit in what Facebook games do, but the gameplay is not his bag. “I think, one day, maybe I’ll figure it out, but until then, I don’t see the allure of those kinds of games,” he continued. “There might be a way to connect people. I think that’s always a good goal: to connect people through your game. So I’ve kind of looked into that, how we might be able to do some of those things. But as far as a game on there, I don’t know.”
It seems Howard’s confusion partially relates to the constant acquisition of farm animals and the virtual piscene. He says: “The light bulb hasn’t gone off for me … I get these little messages: ‘I’ve got a new horse, or fish?’ I don’t know.”
A world like Oblivion that’s inhabited by real people sounds cool, but there’s a place for expansive single-player games so I’m glad we’ve still got a friend in Bethesda for now. I wouldn’t mind if Bethesda put its development effort into something really, really cool that could be played through Facebook though, of course. I’m still waiting for that huge Facebook RPG that will engross me totally while connecting me with friends. Wait, I guess that experience is basically given by World of Warcraft, isn’t it? Fair enough.
Just for the record: No, Howard didn’t say anything worthwhile about the next Elder Scrolls game or the current Bethesda Game Studios project. That is, other than that he’s working on something and we have to be patient to find out what it is.
Source: Industry Gamers
