Bethesda didn't think Fallout 4 having voiced protagonists in the RPG would be so controversial – "we were keeping up with the industry"

As far as Bethesda protagonists go, Fallout 4's Nate and Nora aren't quite the blank canvas you might be used to. They both come with a backstory and voice acting that give them a sense of who they are before you dictate where they'll go. While the design call still splits fans today, the RPG's lead designer says it was simply a sign of the times, man.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Emil Pagliarulo says the call "didn't seem as controversial as it ended up becoming," though you can perhaps see some lessons Bethesda drew from it for Starfield many years later.

"When Fallout 4 came out in 2015 Fall, the voiced protagonist was very common," he reflects. "In fact, I don't think you had an AAA video game at that time that didn't have a voiced protagonist. So it seemed in one way we were keeping up with the industry, and it was also a way for us to show the protagonist with different emotions, and the voice acting with different feelings.

"It's one of those things where you just get used to it, but at the time it didn't seem as controversial as it ended up becoming, because I think there's still so much choice in there that you can have. It's interesting, because going on to Starfield, we had an unvoiced protagonist, because we realized that's what folks want. 'Then let's do it. Let's give the fans what they want.'"

Thankfully, putting the debate aside, Fallout 4 has done just fine for Bethesda. The RPG shipped 12 million units at launch, as per Bethesda, and I can only imagine it's shifted a couple more copies in the years following, especially on the back of a popular Amazon show, which is currently in the middle of Fallout Season 2.

Read more of our Fallout 4 interview here – Bethesda reflects on 10 years of Fallout 4: "You have to accept the creative choices you make on every game, even in retrospect."