Bethesda: We use internal game jams to create Fallout and Elder Scrolls DLC

The game director for Fallout 4 has offered a little insight into the development methods used to create the epic RPG.

Speaking on the subject of DLC to Game Informer, Todd Howard revealed that involving the game’s team in sessions dedicated to bursts of creativity – such as game jams – was key to concepting add-on content for both the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games.

“We do that every game,” he said. “We do that in the middle of development. So we did that in the middle of Fallout 4.

“When we’ve finished what we call our vertical slice preproduction build – when you can actually play the game – we do one for a week then. That fuels features for the main game like jetpacks and a number of other things. And we do another at the end, which is focused on mining ideas for DLC.

“We kind of talk about stuff, but when we start to see it on screen, we say: ‘That’s really good. Here are the things we can do. What’s going to be in an update? Hey, these fit in a package.’”

Howard also touched upon the recent announcement that Bethesda Game Studios would work across multiple titles for the first time since 2002, as well as the studio’s recently founded office in Montreal, which will focus on mobile spin-offs of its core franchises.

“We’ve always kind of overlapped stuff, but I guess we’re doing more now than we ever have,” he commented. “[The projects] aren’t all the same scale, but they are longer-term. We’re also doing DLC and Fallout Shelter, creation kit and mod stuff, updating the game – we’ve got a lot going on.

"We got to the point with the studio in Montreal where we can start expanding. We thought that: ‘Hey, these are things we talked about doing, so why not? Let’s start.’”