Will Shen on leaving Bethesda

[Centisteed]

Man, I was blown away when I heard he quit. I'm still trying to figure out why he quit. If you were the head of some big blockbuster game and you have videos of yourself talking about the game and backing the game, wouldn't you want to see it through and make fixes to it for at least a year after release? The timing of it seems like the ultimate dis to Starfield.

Think about it, you've been working on it for a decade or so, and now it's released. Logic dictates you would want to continue and curtail the game so that it's the best possible game. As has been proven with Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man's Sky.

But this is the complete opposite, just ditching it completely. He must've really hated Starfield and Bethesda. Could it have been the negative criticism from the Internet edge lords?

The guy from Dead Space, who helped build Callisto Protocol, I had heard he quit that company, but it was during layoffs and nearly a year later. I'm guessing their won't be a Callisto Protocol 2.

I wonder who's going to turn around the problems in Starfield to fix the problems the Lead might've left behind? Since I don't work there, I can't really say how big his impact was, but he was paraded around in the videos for a long time now, so it seems he was in a fairly important position to direct the game.

[PocketYoda]

Maybe he just doesn't like where BGS is heading, or how its run these days, maybe he just wanted a change with a less stressful job.

[Vezner]

It's all speculation but if I were him and if I was seeing Bethesda go down the crapper like this, I would probably want to move on as well.

[Jᴧgᴧ]

Yep, I'd agree he's just distancing himself from Bethesda at this point. Any project you put that much time into (without quitting) you're going to have strong feelings for. Bethesda letting it burn the way they have was probably the final straw for him.

[EzRyder]

he left to join another game developer, one that other previous employees from Bethesda created actually (so likely friends or acquaintances of his)
its no mystery but you can read w/e you like into it - people sometimes just want or need a change, working in a big cooperate situation is always more fast paced and stressful than a small team, in this case i think it was more a passion move with the game they are making but who knows
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-lead-quest-designer-leaves-bethesda-to-work-on-the-open-world-rpg-wyrdsong/

[moody]

Starfield felt like it was restricted in a lot of ways to me. Maybe he got tired of not having the freedom to do more.

[drommels]

Originally posted by Centisteed:

Man, I was blown away when I heard he quit. I'm still trying to figure out why he quit. If you were the head of some big blockbuster game and you have videos of yourself talking about the game and backing the game, wouldn't you want to see it through and make fixes to it for at least a year after release? The timing of it seems like the ultimate dis to Starfield.

Think about it, you've been working on it for a decade or so, and now it's released. Logic dictates you would want to continue and curtail the game so that it's the best possible game. As has been proven with Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man's Sky.

But this is the complete opposite, just ditching it completely. He must've really hated Starfield and Bethesda. Could it have been the negative criticism from the Internet edge lords?

The guy from Dead Space, who helped build Callisto Protocol, I had heard he quit that company, but it was during layoffs and nearly a year later. I'm guessing their won't be a Callisto Protocol 2.

I wonder who's going to turn around the problems in Starfield to fix the problems the Lead might've left behind? Since I don't work there, I can't really say how big his impact was, but he was paraded around in the videos for a long time now, so it seems he was in a fairly important position to direct the game.

Sjeez... this is old news.

Will Shen left to join his buddy Jeff Gardiner at 'Something Wicked Games' to work on Wyrdsong, an open-rpg game. Any other could-be-conspiracies you would like to share?

[Eminem]

Originally posted by Centisteed:

Man, I was blown away when I heard he quit. I'm still trying to figure out why he quit.

Corporate America. Got bought out by Microsoft. Their duties are going to change, pay re-negotiation, perks, management may want to bring in their own guy or remove said position altogether.

It's Microsoft or any large entity that gets bought out. Stuff happens when ownership changes hands.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Vezner:

It's all speculation but if I were him and if I was seeing Bethesda go down the crapper like this, I would probably want to move on as well.

He's on record from last year saying he can't wait for people to experience the main story of Starfield and meet all of the Constellation members, listing them as highlights of what he had worked on for Starfield.

Those two things are among the most heavily criticized aspects of the game, so wouldn't that make him quite a bit responsible for the "going down the crapper" in your view?

[Nemorov]

Pete Hines
Will Shen
Kurt Kuhlmann

All left Bethesda recently...

whos next?

[Vezner]

Originally posted by Nemorov:

Pete Hines
Will Shen
Kurt Kuhlmann

All left Bethesda recently...

whos next?

Exactly. No matter what "official record" statement they make to explain the move, you can't help but notice a trend going on. Bethesda is a sinking ship.

[drommels]

Originally posted by Nemorov:

Pete Hines
Will Shen
Kurt Kuhlmann

All left Bethesda recently...

whos next?

One got a better job (from design director, now lead content designer).

The other two retired… After working at Bethesda for 27 years and just a big project done, I guess they deserve a break ;)

[Zebedee]

Bruce Nesmith gave an interview recently and basically said that the Microsoft deal and then Starfield's release give natural break points for people to move on to something different or to retire. He said that he took retirement because of the Microsoft deal and that he could see others ready and waiting to move up into more senior positions. Not sure about the OP's idea that it's work for a decade (I guess, if you include pre-production) and then just drop it, it's not really unexpected to see some of this after a release - in fact people delay decisions to move until that point.

[Nemorov]

Originally posted by drommels:

Originally posted by Nemorov:

Pete Hines
Will Shen
Kurt Kuhlmann

All left Bethesda recently...

whos next?

One got a better job (from design director, now lead content designer).

The other two retired… After working at Bethesda for 27 years and just a big project done, I guess they deserve a break ;)

We will see :)

BTW Kuhlmann is searchign for a new Job. So he left Bethesda but dont have a job right now.

[John Moskva]

OMG DID YOU HEAR THAT RICHARD GARRIOT LEFT ORIGIN SYSTEMS!!!!!!!111111ELEVENTYONE

RAPH KOSTER IS NO LONGER WITH SOE EITHER....OMG THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER GAME MADE EVER......EVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR

[John Moskva]

Its wierd reading the replys....its almost like when you come across comments on a yt video and they go off the rails on an off topic subject like talking about Mary Katherine Gallaghers bitcoin investment system....and all the bots are like please tell me how to invest with Mary Katherine Gallagher! I have tripled my money since reading her newsletter I mean it all comes across as so much astroturf and nothing they are saying or points they are bringing up are genuine...especially when they dont have the icon that shows they own the game.

concern troll level OVER 9000!