Bethesda veteran Jeff Gardiner raises $13M for Something Wicked Games to make open world RPG
Summary
Before making the difficult choice to leave Bethesda Game Studios following a 15-year career, Gardiners efforts on Fallout 76 saw its transformation into one of the most successful, robust examples of the games-as-a-service model, Gardiner said.The studios talent roster also includes cofounder and design director Charles Staples, formerly of Obsidian Entertainment. Staples 15-year tenure at Obsidian was highlighted with his designdirector role on The Outer Worlds, as well as his work as lead level designer on Fallout: NewVegas.Gardiner said that he chose NetEase as a backer in part because the company promised independence to Something Wicked Games. Currently staffed with 12 full-time developers, the studio hopes to achieve a full roster between 65 to 70 as development continues to ramp up.Fallout 76, which had quality problems at the outset but eventually launched an expansion that fans embraced.The tough launch gave Gardiner his best lessons of all and it was ultimately about redemption as the company made the game viable. Gardiner went on to reprise his role as lead producer on each of Fallout 3s expansions: Mothership Zeta, Point Lookout, Broken Steel, The Pitt, and Operation: Anchorage.In 2011, Gardiner worked as a senior producer in charge of the design department on The Elder ScrollsV: Skyrim, one of the best-selling RPGs of all time. He also said the game could also be viewed as a cult historical fantasy open world RPG set in a very mythological age in Portugal, around the 12th or 13th century.