Former Dev Reveals Obsidian Pitched An Elder Scrolls Game To Bethesda

According to Avellone, the idea was to do what Call of Duty does and in his own words:

“I thought it couldn’t hurt to try and push a similar system to what Treyarch/Activision had going with Call of Duty at the time (but hopefully less rushed). Bethesda could do a core release, then we’d release a  title (in same world or a divergent timeline/era) before the next big push. Probably less relevant now that Elder Scrolls Online is going, but at the time, it seemed to be something that could benefit both studios.”

Avellone then noted that Obsidian had concepts in mind, including one set in Skyrim, which would no doubt have affected the game that was The Elder Scrolls V. One idea was described as follows

“If Bethesda didn’t want us messing with their core world, one was a spinoff where you adventured in an alternate world the last hero had failed to save in the last round of Elder Scroll titles”

Of course, it is important to note that both Bethesda and Obsidian are now owned by Microsoft, and Obsidian is now working on Avowed, a game set in the Pillars of Eternity setting that looks to be the studios take on The Elder Scrolls. Perhaps they reused some of their ideas?

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