It's been a rocky couple of weeks for video game development studio Bethesda. The company recently launched its Creation Club, which reached new levels of controversy for trying yet again to cash in on the community modding scene behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. Many felt that Bethesda was overstepping its boundaries in implementing the microtransaction-heavy system, and the studio would face harsh criticism over the following weeks despite its claims that "...we're not going to do paid mods."
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Yet, even as the studio rapidly plummets from community favor, any hints towards Bethesda's next title seem impervious to outrage. An interview between virtual news and entertainment outlet Tek Syndicate and Bethesda VP Pete Hines surfaced on Twitter that seemed to all but confirm the development of an upcoming title from the studio.
According to an interview by @teksyndicate , Bethesda still has one unannounced game releasing THIS year. What do you think it is? pic.twitter.com/E0pXwq9ISV
— MrMattyPlays (@G27Status) September 6, 2017
Excitement over the possibility of a new Bethesda IP immediately mixed with the community's recent frustration with the studio, resulting in an unhealthy batch of fan speculation and Internet arguments - until Hines himself personally weighed in on the interview. In a message responding to the aforementioned Tweet, the developer advised readers to "ignore" the content of the video.
I probably just had a concussion from the beating I took online and was rambling. Ignore.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) September 6, 2017
Not so fast, though! As if determined to give fans whiplash, Pete Hines would release the third and seemingly final installment of the Bethesda trilogy of Tweets that confirmed the validity of his statements in the interview with Tek Syndicate.
I'm positive I knew what I was saying in the interview. The tweet was a joke I was making to MrMatty
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) September 9, 2017
So, there we have it. Bethesda is almost probably certainly this time working towards the development of a new video game. How this as-of-yet unnamed title would perform amidst the recent controversy - as well as its genre, price, mechanics, and gameplay - is still completely up in the air for fans of the studio, and it will likely be a while yet before we hear any concrete details on the project.
If nothing else, this flurry of confirmations/denials has only proven that Bethesda's the best at what they proclaim to be: a video game development company. That, regardless of seemingly greedy or even manipulative business practices, the studio has a distinct passion for gaming that manifests itself in some of the industry's most iconic franchises, and it'll take a bit more than paid mods to spoil that.
