Fallout: London lead is "really worried" Fallout 5 will use Bethesda's proprietary Creation Engine: "It needs to be overhauled somewhat"

Fallout London
(Image credit: Team Folon/Bethesda)

Fallout London project lead Dean Carter hopes that Bethesda will either have given up on or overhauled the Creation Engine by the time Fallout 5 comes out.

If you look at Bethesda Game Studios' history, its games all have engine similarities going back to 2003's Morrowind. NetImmerse – which was renamed Gamebryo in 2003 – was used for Elder Scrolls 4, as well as Fallout 3. Then Bethesda debuted the Creation Engine for The Elder Scrolls 5, a proprietary engine based on GameBryo, and later used it for Fallout 4, with Starfield using the updated Creation Engine 2. However, despite Bethesda's love of it, Gamebryo and Creation Engine haven't been the biggest hits with fans.

Carter was asked by Esports.Net if there are any mechanics or tools from Fallout London he'd like to see Bethesda take on for a potential Fallout 5, but before answering the question, he responded, "I’m really worried that they’re gonna keep going with the Creation Engine." Carter explained, "Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of pluses to it. I’m not just someone that’s going to sit there and lie and say it’s a terrible engine. It could be better, yes, but it’s not a bad engine but I do think it started to show its age. It needs to be overhauled somewhat."

When asked what an engine change could do for a new Bethesda games, Carter singled out "Load screens and optimization, without a doubt." He explains, "That was our biggest complaint, rightly so from the public, that our game wasn’t optimized, and that’s because it was far too late in development to be able to change it, and it was because we as gamers did not want load screens."

He adds, "We didn’t want to have load screens. It would have really taken away from the vibe and we paid the price for it because the engine wasn’t suitable for what we wanted to achieve. If they have to upgrade it, that’s what they need to solve: get rid of the load screens and allow better optimization."

Scott McCrae
Contributor

Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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