Bethesda: We Said No to Game of Thrones

Logan Westbrook

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Feb 21, 2008
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Bethesda: We Said No to Game of Thrones

Westeros wasn't quite as interesting to Bethesda as Skyrim [http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Xbox-360/dp/B004HYK956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316106384&sr=8-1] was.

Bethesda's Todd Howard says that the studio was approached to make a Game of Thrones game, but turned it down. Howard says that there was a lot of interest internally about making a game based on George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, but ultimately Bethesda decided it wanted to spend its time differently.

"With A Song of Ice and Fire, we went 'We want to do that!'" said Howard. "People in our studio liked it, and it seeped in a bit to what we were doing ... We wanted to do our own world ... Before we were even making Skyrim, there was a conversation with George R.R. Martin's people. They thought it would be a good match - and so did we, actually - but then we thought about if that was where we wanted to spend our time. It was tempting, though."

Howard's comments make it sound like Bethesda has shut the door on working on the Game of Thrones franchise for good. If that is the case, it's rather a shame, because - as Howard says - it would have been a good match. Still, there's no harm in keeping your fingers crossed, even if it is just wishful thinking. Don't worry if you can't wait for this nebulous future time that may or may not come to pass though; the books have still been made into a game, just not an RPG. Cyanide Games has created an RTS called Game of Thrones: Genesis [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112830-Experience-the-Founding-of-Westeros-in-Game-of-Thrones-Genesis ], which comes out on September 29th.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, also known as the game that Bethesda made instead of Game of Thrones, comes out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 11th.

Source: VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/15/bethesda-why-we-turned-down-a-game-of-thrones/]



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Callate

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I saw the trailer for GoT:Genesis on Steam... One long, fairly boring cut-scene, no hint of gameplay. Not the most promising start, I have to say.
 

toomuchnothing

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Logan Westbrook said:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, also known as the game that Bethesda made instead of Game of Thrones, comes out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 8th.
So its not 11/11/11 anymore? That makes more sense since its a Tuesday aka typical release date but this was the first I heard it.
 

Fai57

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I've only read the first book so far, but I feel like an RTS would work better for Game of Thrones than a Bethesda style RPG. Bethesda/Western RPG's are about one person basically doing everything and saving the world. That really doesn't mesh with what I've seen of the series so far. It's much more about politics and intrigue, which fits a RTS better, or even turn-based strategy. As far as I know, Bethesda doesn't really have any experience in that area, so it's probably for the best that they aren't making a GoT game.
 

cainx10a

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I find Mount & Blade to be much closer to the world depicted in George R.R Martin's ASOIAF than any other gameworld other game developers have produced ... except maybe for Medieval Total War, but hey, you don't get to slice a horse head off in TW as you would be able to in M&B Gregor Clegane-style. From a world that can exist on its own with factions waging war against each other, traders and caravans traveling across the land of Calradia to earn their living, bandits roaming the land and political machinations etc ... The only thing that's missing is the sea aspect of warfare, and dragons.

M&B and its developers are definitely my #1 choice for a GoT/ASOIAF game, but I really doubt that will happen.
 

saphirekosmos

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cainx10a said:
I find Mount & Blade to be much closer to the world depicted in George R.R Martin's ASOIAF than any other gameworld other game developers have produced ... except maybe for Medieval Total War, but hey, you don't get to slice a horse head off in TW as you would be able to in M&B Gregor Clegane-style. From a world that can exist on its own with factions waging war against each other, traders and caravans traveling across the land of Calradia to earn their living, bandits roaming the land and political machinations etc ... The only thing that's missing is the sea aspect of warfare, and dragons.

M&B and its developers are definitely my #1 choice for a GoT/ASOIAF game, but I really doubt that will happen.

A friend of mine was actually playing a M&B GOT mod. It added in all the factions and characters to my knowledge. Looked cool.

OT: I would have liked it, but like the others have said IDK how ell they would have done it story wise. Though we can always look forward to a GOT conversion mod for Skyrim! XD Gods know if someone doesn't try to I may take a whack at it.
 

brodie21

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i really do hope that bethesda ends up making an elder scrolls style game of thrones game. if not then i cant help thinking that this would be one of the biggest missed opportunities of all time
 

RandV80

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Yeah Bethesda would be great for virtually recreating the continent of Westeros and it would be fun to wander around in it TES style, but overall their brand of story telling and gameplay wouldn't fit well with A Song of Fire and Ice. Which doesn't really need a video game for it anyway, but I'm not going to complain if they make something and will certainly check it out. Main problem is considering how awesome a series the books are, basically standing on top of the fantasy fiction world right now, there's no way a game could match up to that sort of standard.
 

Hungry Donner

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brodie21 said:
i really do hope that bethesda ends up making an elder scrolls style game of thrones game. if not then i cant help thinking that this would be one of the biggest missed opportunities of all time
These sorts of properties have a ton of restrictions that come with them, particularly now that there is a TV show attached. I'd rather Bethesda have the freedom to make the games they want than attempting to do justice to their style of gameplay and a well-loved series of books (and a TV series - which the art direction would likely have to follow closely).

Even if they could pull of an OK game I doubt it would be an enjoyable developement. Anyway, with both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout IPs to work on I suspect Bethesda has their hands full.
 

Tharwen

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I get the feeling it would just end up taking the role of TES:VI instead of being a new game on its own. That would be bad.
 

Hobonicus

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As much as I enjoy Bethesda games, I think a Game of Thrones title by them would be awful. Bethesda couldn't write their way out of a paper bag, their main stories are terrible and their dialogue is cringe worthy.

CD Projekt Red on the other hand... Though The Witcher 2 basically already feels like something from a Song of Ice and Fire.
 

synobal

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Why approach Bethesda for a game that would be better done by other studios? Bethesda does open ended free roaming RPGs. CD Projeckt Red or Bioware would be a much better choice for stuidos to develop it I think.
 

[zonking great]

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Prediction: That Genesis game? It will bomb horribly. There's no solid timeline (you can fight Aegon the Conqueror as Ned Stark, FFS!) and it's just brought out to coast on the success of the HBO series. Let us be honest about this.