Why did The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim never receive a spin-off like Bethesda's Fallout 3 did, with Fallout: New Vegas? According to Skyrim co-lead designer Kurt Kuhlmann, it's because of The Elder Scrolls Online. Speaking to FRVR (via VGC), the 20-year studio veteran said the MMORPG essentially kept Elder Scrolls fans occupied while Bethesda focused on other projects.
"I do think The Elder Scrolls Online took the heat off," Kuhlmann said. "There was a new Elder Scrolls product, and it was ongoing. It was creating new content constantly."
Kuhlmann explained that although the series had always been known as a single-player experience, The Elder Scrolls Online changed that, and ended up being the main ESO game for a lot of players.
"There are a lot of people… I mean, I know [there are] the single-player people, I'm one of those people – but there are a lot of people to whom The Elder Scrolls is now The Elder Scrolls Online. That's their experience with it. That's what they love. That's where they got their Elder Scrolls gaming experience, and that's probably what they want more of."
Another reason why Skyrim never got its own New Vegas spin-off has to do with that game's popularity and critical acclaim, which started something of a rivalry between Bethesda and New Vegas developer Obsidian.
"The whole New Vegas thing did create this – at least the perception of this – 'Who makes a better Fallout game? Oh, they should just give it to Obsidian' [situation]," Kuhlmann pointed out.
"There are the Obsidian, New Vegas people that think obviously New Vegas is way better, Obsidian is way better at making those games, and why don't they just get Fallout altogether," he went on.
By Kuhlmann's assessment, series creator Todd Howard didn't want a repeat of that situation within The Elder Scrolls series. "Todd, from my time there, he is very protective of it," he added.
Obsidian, of course, was recently confirmed to have started working on a new Fallout game in collaboration with Bethesda, following sweeping cuts across the Xbox division. Last week, another round of reorganisation moved Obsidian fully under Bethesda's purview.
As for The Elder Scrolls Online, the game's development will continue, but severe cuts at its studio Zenimax Online mean the scope of future additions has changed, even as Zenimax Online continues to reassure fans that ESO is not going away.
The Elder Scrolls 6 remains in development, with Bethesda claiming the layoffs have not affected its development roadmap. The game has no public release target.
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