Even as we approach fifteen years since Skyrim first launched, the fifth Elder Scrolls game remains incredibly popular. Someone who remains "eternally shocked" by the persistence of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in today's gaming landscape is Bruce Nesmith, lead designer on the acclaimed RPG.
"By all rights, a year later, some other game should have eclipsed it. And then two years later, three years later, five, ten. It's like 'what the hell is going on here?'" Nesmith told FRVR in a recent podcast. "Todd [Howard] would even go to these meetings and show us information, which I can't give you the details of, about how many people are playing it. It's like, 'You've got to be kidding me?' Seriously, still, ten years later."
A lot of what Nesmith thinks keeps Skyrim alive today is in its open world. "We didn't put anything off limits. We didn't try to manage the experience," he said. "We let it be your experience, it was a player-driven experience. And very, very few games have mastered that because open world is now almost a cliché statement. 'Oh yeah, we have open world.'"
There's also a certain charm with Skyrim that goes beyond the open world. It's not perfect, but it does a great job at making you think your experience is uniquely yours, as Nesmith says. Here's hoping we can get the same feeling whenever The Elder Scrolls VI finally releases.