In an interview, Todd Howard appeared alongside the Japanese visionary and said a few words about two Bethesda-related games.

An Entertainment Weekly article about Xbox’s 25th anniversary and the studio’s efforts toward Hollywood adaptations, including the Sea of Thieves movie, revealed fresh information about several Xbox projects. These included Hideo Kojima’s OD, Bethesda Game Studios’ The Elder Scrolls VI, and Arkane’s Marvel’s Blade. Todd Howard, the head of BGS, acknowledged the pressure to make the game good and the long wait since 2011’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls VI is currently their biggest project, most of the studio’s staff is working on it, and they know it has to be a success because players have been waiting for it for so long.

His most interesting comment, however, concerned Marvel’s Blade. Since Arkane’s games are also published by Bethesda, Howard has insight into the state of development. He said that he saw the game on May 21, when these interviews were conducted, and praised the studio for doing genuinely excellent work. He cannot reveal when players will see more of it, but he has seen some of the game, and says Arkane Studios’ developers are doing a great job.

Rumors, meanwhile, suggest Arkane may be in serious trouble because of Xbox’s upcoming layoffs and studio closures. There are even claims that ZeniMax will lay off everyone not working on The Elder Scrolls or Fallout. Howard’s comment offers a glimmer of hope, but it does not guarantee the studio will not close anyway. Ninja Theory also unveiled its new game, Senua, set for release in 2027, and the studio may still be shut down.

Fortunately, there are no such rumors surrounding Kojima’s experimental OD. In the interview, the visionary designer behind Metal Gear and Death Stranding revealed that the game aims to push the boundaries of horror, while also featuring a system that lets players continue if they become too frightened.

“I wanted to do something new. I wanted to do something different. I have had this OD concept since I was working on Death Stranding, and I worked on it completely alone. I cannot reveal too many details, but it is something no one has ever seen before. It is a new game system. I pitched the idea to many people, both major and up-and-coming companies. They all said the same thing. They said I was crazy, that they did not understand the concept at all, and that they would not be able to make it. I wanted to go beyond the level of scariness that other games had achieved. It is a single-player game, and I wanted to make it as scary as possible. But for those who might stop playing if it becomes too scary, I came up with a system that lets them continue. I cannot say much more, because that would reveal too much about the system and I would get in trouble for saying too much!” – Kojima said.

None of these games has a release date yet. The fate of Marvel’s Blade remains uncertain, while OD and The Elder Scrolls VI will likely need another year or two before they are finished.

Source: WCCFTech, Entertainment Weekly