Skyrim's lead developer admits Bethesda's games lack "polish," but at some point, you have to release the game even if there is a list 700 known bugs

I'm not a fortune teller but I can pretty much guarantee that you'll see some of the features in The Elder Scrolls 6 already. Picking up an item on any surface causes all items around it to levitate by a few millimetres. Second, your partner will jumpscare you at some point by offering you trash in the middle battle. Third, land while swimming.

I know this, because these minor bugs and strange behaviours have been a hallmark of Bethesda's games since Oblivion. All of them have been criticized for it and not just by us in the peanut gallery. Bruce Nesmith, Skyrim's lead developer, is the latest notable name to admit to Bethesda's jankiness during a videogamer interview.

"I'll be the first to admit that Bethesda Games can polish their games more," said Nesmith. He added that players give the studio some leeway because of the amount that they can do with its games. "A certain lack of polish can be forgiven. The 17 things that you could do with an NPC made it acceptable to have him stand in front of a brick wall for a short time.

Could a Bethesda-style Skyrim game be polished to a mirror shine before release? These games could be more polished or at least polished than they were at launch. But the demands of the business dictate that you have to release a game at some point. "Are You Willing to Let the Game Sit for Six More Months and be Delayed Six More Months in Order to Try to Polish It?" Nesmith points out that even though you could do this, the end product would still only be "better" and not perfect. "So you have to decide to publish at some point," he says. Even though you still have an extensive list of bugs (Nesmith pulls out "700" from the air).

Nesmith gave a kind of answer when Videogamer asked whether Bethesda could get ahead of the fan expectations by releasing those bugs before launch. "It's a tricky problem because, as a marketer, you want to manage expectations." Nesmith says that players expect " no bug" which is something no one can achieve. "Marketing has to ask, how can we come as close as possible" to this expectation. How can we make them love us for our good and hate us for our bad?

I think I understand Nesmith's point: It's best for Bethesda not to rush out and undercut a lot of marketing hype by saying, "Here's all the problems with our game and we want $60." Nesmith's statement that it was impossible to release a bug-free version of the game made it seem a bit cynical. But it was a business decision.

I'm not sure if I want Bethesda to make games that are gleaming and bug-free. Starfield was one of the many games I disliked because it was too slick. Don't get me incorrect, there were many things that went wrong when I played it, but none had the same comedic value and character as the kind of whackadoo bug that makes Oblivion still one of the most unintentionally funny games ever made. It's so funny that it has gone viral 18 years after its release.

You know what I'm saying? Bethesda should publish those bug lists and embrace them. No one has the time or energy to fix every bug in Skyrim during a normal game development period, and I don't think I would want to. It's better to accept them as they are: A core element of their games with a charm of their own.