4 New Year’s Resolutions Bethesda Should Seriously Keep

Better PC Ports

One of the biggest problems that Bethesda has suffered from is releasing buggy or unplayable games for the PC. The most recent offender is the stealth action game Dishonored 2, which was flooded with a plethora of issues ranging from simple bugs to terrible framerate drops. While some of these issues have been fixed, Bethesda needs to focus more on delivering quality PC versions of their titles at launch and not wait until weeks later to patch out all of the problems.

In the wake of Dishonored 2’s launch, Bethesda has recently come out and explained that their PC launch of Prey won’t suffer any issues, and it’s important the company make good on that promise. PC players have recently received a rather alarming amount of poorly optimized ports this year, so it’s going to be important for Bethesda to deliver their titles with notably fewer hitches.

Expand Into the Mobile Market

Fallout Shelter was one of the most surprising mobile hits of 2015, based around maintaining your own Fallout vault. This title had a simple design but offered enough challenge and post-release support to keep it engaging and fun well beyond the release date. Looking forward, it would be fantastic if Bethesda continued to develop mobile-based games alongside their major releases.

Given there are a plethora of mobile titles that abuse a free to play system or are weighed down by intrusive microtransactions, Bethesda’s choice to ignore these options is incredibly important. Yes, you can buy loot in Fallout Shelter, however, it’s not needed at all to enjoy the game, and it’s refreshing to see a major developer understand what players like in their mobile titles. By removing real life timers, pay to win mechanics, and a premium version, Bethesda has shown audiences that it’s possible to deliver quality mobile games without any strings attached.

Treat VR With Care

During E3 2016, one of the big announcements by Bethesda was that they will be heading into the VR market very soon. This was followed up with the reveal of Fallout 4 VR, a title that has been kept largely in the shadows since its brief showing. Now, with virtual reality taking the industry by storm, one has to wonder how with Bethesda handle this new and growing market. Bethesda will need to take a step forward and push the boundaries of the medium, and after our hands-on time with Fallout 4 VR, it’s yet unclear how entertaining the experience will be.

Bethesda has always been a company about breaking the limits of what hardware can do, as their open world titles have always sought to deliver mind-blowing scope. Bringing this kind of mentality to VR and not treating it as just a gimmick will help them not only showcase the power of virtual reality, but establish that it can be a true platform for gaming.

Keep Putting Out Great Games

While Bethesda may not personally develop every game that has passed under their name, there is little denying the sheer quality of titles either developed or published under their name. Games like DOOM and Dishonored 2 are considered by many to be Game of the Year material, helping to not only elevate their franchises but their respective genres. In an age where some companies are shipping titles bogged down by microtransactions or a lack of release content, it’s always fantastic to see a company that takes pride in offering solid experiences.

Even their own core franchises (Fallout and The Elder Scrolls) usually knock it out of the park, delivering great games that are curated by both developers and community. While they do occasionally suffer some issues that require patching, there is little doubt about the sheer quality of their titles. Looking to the future, all we ask is that Bethesda continues to deliver fun and memorable experiences that show us the true potential of gaming. Plus, we have really high hopes for Quake Champions, and would really like it to deliver the chaotic action we know and love.