32 Facts About Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland.

Bethesda Softworks was founded by Christopher Weaver and Ed Fletcher in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media.

Bethesda Softworks developed several technologies, including location-based entertainment systems, that Weaver deemed "radical and cutting-edge" but put out prematurely, causing little commercial return.

Bethesda Softworks provided engineering and media consulting for private companies and government organizations.

Bethesda Softworks had considered creating a unique name, such as one using the word "magic" after a quote from Arthur C Clarke, but "Bethesda Softworks" ultimately stuck.

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Unlike VideoMagic, Bethesda Softworks was entirely self-funded, starting with roughly, and was not attached to any business plan.

Between 1994 and 1997, Bethesda Softworks was developing a space combat game titled The 10th Planet.

In 1995, Bethesda Softworks acquired Noctropolis developer Flashpoint Productions, which Brent Erickson had founded in 1992.

In 1997, Bethesda Softworks acquired XL Translab, a Washington, DC, graphics company that stemmed from the Catholic University School of Architecture and Planning.

Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Bethesda Softworks developed XnGine, a 3D game engine, replacing the raycasting engine used for Arena.

In 1997 and 1998, Bethesda Softworks released two The Elder Scrolls spin-offs based on Daggerfall code—Battlespire and Redguard—neither of which enjoyed the success of Daggerfall and Arena.

Bethesda Softworks has no accounting department, we have no finance, we have no legal, our legal department [and] our financial department is ZeniMax, we all operate as one unit.

Bethesda Softworks later filed a lawsuit against ZeniMax, claiming he was ousted by his new business partners after giving them access to his brand and was owed in severance pay.

In January 2006, Bethesda Softworks acquired the rights to the Star Trek series of video games.

In September 2009, Bethesda Softworks filed a lawsuit against Interplay Entertainment, after being unsatisfied with Interplay's development of the Fallout massively multiplayer online game project.

Bethesda Softworks stopped funding the project, and Interplay was forced to abandon work on it.

Between 2007 and 2010, Bethesda Softworks raised in new capital from Providence Equity Partners to fund expansion efforts.

In 2011, Bethesda Softworks filed a lawsuit against Mojang for using Scrolls as the name of a new digital card game, which sounded too close to The Elder Scrolls trademarked by Bethesda Softworks.

Later that year, Zen Studios released virtual pinball adaptations of three games that Bethesda Softworks released during the decade thus far as the Bethesda Softworks Pinball collection for its pinball games.

Bethesda Softworks went on to release two more free-to-play mobile games based on The Elder Scrolls series, a card battle game titled The Elder Scrolls: Legends in 2017 and a first-person role-playing game titled The Elder Scrolls: Blades in 2019.

When Nintendo unveiled its new hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch, Bethesda Softworks expressed support for it and released ports of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Doom for that system in November 2017.

In late 2018, Bethesda Softworks announced and released its first massively multiplayer online game, Fallout 76, a prequel to the Fallout series.

In November 2019, Human Head Studios shut down while Bethesda Softworks established a new studio, Roundhouse Studios, offering all Human Head employees a position within it.

In 2001, Bethesda Softworks published Echelon in the United States, a video game developed by the Russian development studio Madia.

Madia stated that Bethesda Softworks did not pay for boxed sales of the game, as was allegedly specified in the contract.

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Bethesda Softworks pressured developer No Matter Games to change the name of their game Prey for the Gods to Praey for the Gods, as Bethesda Softworks felt the initial title infringed upon the trademark of their own game, Prey.

In September 2009, Bethesda Softworks sued Interplay Entertainment over Fallout trademark infringement.

In March 2012, Mojang and Bethesda Softworks reached a settlement, in which Mojang would not trademark Scrolls, but Bethesda Softworks would not contest Mojang's naming of Scrolls, so long as it would not be a direct competitor against The Elder Scrolls.

In 2018, Bethesda Softworks sued Behaviour Interactive, the company responsible for developing Fallout Shelter, for appearing to copy the game's design onto a tie-in mobile game for the Westworld franchise.

Bethesda Softworks's actions provoked negative reactions from buyers for the publisher having failed to notify them beforehand and for the amount of compensation offered.

On December 3,2018, Bethesda Softworks revealed that they would produce canvas bags for owners of the Power Armor edition.

Bethesda Softworks announced that the breach occurred as a result of "an error with our customer support website" and they would investigate the incident.