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Former Skyrim Lead Urges Bethesda to Keep Creation Engine Rather Than Switch to Unreal

Bruce Nesmith warns an engine swap would stall development for long stretches, delaying any real gains until later titles.

Overview

  • Nesmith shared his view in a recent PressBoxPR interview reported by PC Gamer and GamesRadar+, emphasizing that this is his personal recommendation rather than studio policy.
  • He says moving to a new engine would require dozens of specialists just to get the tech working, leaving teams unable to build or even play the game for extended periods.
  • Fallout 76’s major engine changes to support multiplayer are cited as a case that made development “extremely difficult” for the team.
  • He notes a dedicated group continually upgrades Bethesda’s in-house tech, allowing projects to keep running while improvements are integrated.
  • His advice is to port needed features into the Creation Engine instead of migrating wholesale, with PC Gamer pointing to BioWare’s Frostbite transition as a cautionary example.