Former Skyrim dev says “a lot of the great stuff” in the RPG came from the devs having “quite a bit of freedom” to create what they wanted, even if it wasn’t “on schedule”

It sounds like the development of Skyrim was handled rather differently to how Bethesda approaches its RPGs now, as one former dev fondly recalls the “freedom to do what you want” that led to “a lot of the great stuff” in the iconic fifth Elder Scrolls game.

Speaking to PC Gamer in an interview at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), former Bethesda developer Nate Purkeypile – who worked as a world artist on Skyrim – speaks about the less strict approach to the creation of the 2011 RPG, noting that “we had quite a bit of freedom to do stuff.” He points to the underground city of Blackreach, which “was not on schedule at all,” and explains: “We just kind of did that on the side and put it in.”