Team Folon’s lead has a blunt message for Bethesda – he argues the writing has slipped, and that the franchises may no longer be in the right hands.

Just days after veteran game designer Chris Avellone said Bethesda doesn’t truly understand the Fallout franchise, Dean Carter – lead developer at Team Folon, the studio that launched Fallout London in July 2024 – told Esports.net that Bethesda should consider selling off its IPs, including Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. His frustration is largely rooted in the writing of Bethesda’s more recent releases and in the launch of Fallout 76, which clearly failed to satisfy many fans who primarily want single-player experiences. Carter added that Bethesda could still deliver excellent games if it brought stronger writers into the fold. He also said he worries Bethesda will continue using the Creation Engine going forward, though he emphasized it isn’t a bad engine.

“With all due respect to Bethesda, I feel like they’ve probably gone one game too far. It’s time to retire and consider selling your IP because people like the franchise. I’m just not sure it’s in the right hands. It really hurts me to say that because I love Bethesda. The quality of the writing has gone downhill. As a company, I know they have to try new things, but Fallout 76 caters to an audience that wants to play a multiplayer Fallout game, not a single-player one. If they’re going to stay on board, they should stick with what they’ve got. I don’t think Skyrim is the best game of all time like some people do. It’s an excellent game. I just feel like they need to improve the writing. If they could hire some good writers, the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games would be great. Honestly, they need better writers.

I understand that the engine is proprietary. Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of advantages to it. I’m not going to lie and say it’s a terrible engine. It could be better, yes, but it’s not bad. However, I think it’s starting to show its age. It needs to be overhauled. If they can do that, then there’s no reason they couldn’t push its limits and start adding things like drivable cars and metro systems, like the ones we built in Fallout: London. If we found a way, I’m sure they could bring some of this stuff back in Fallout 5,” Carter said.

Following Fallout London’s successful release, Team Folon registered as an official game developer and is now working on a new indie project built in Unreal Engine 5. Even so, the team still plans to ship the final two DLCs for Fallout London: Last Orders and Wildcard.

Source: WCCFTech, Esports.net