Is Todd Howard Retiring? Bethesda Fans Just Had a Minor Heart Attack

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Is Todd Howard Retiring? Bethesda Fans Just Had a Minor Heart Attack

It’s fair to say that Todd Howard is one of the most recognizable game developers out there. If it weren’t for this man, we wouldn’t have seen legendary RPG franchises such as Fallout and Elder Scrolls hitting the shelves and changing the RPG genre forever.

We can’t imagine Bethesda without Howard. However, in the last couple of weeks, rumors started speculating that the man was stepping away from Bethesda and taking a break. As you’d expect, fans started panicking and speculating after hearing the news, but is any of this actually true? Let’s find out.

Is Todd Howard actually passing the torch at Bethesda?

Let’s start off by confirming that Howard isn’t going anywhere. Gamers can calm down, as he’s still very much involved in the day-to-day development of projects at Bethesda. This includes the likes of the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls 6.

So, what’s the rumor about? Well, Todd is indeed retiring, but not Howard. It’s actually Todd Vaughn who moved on from Bethesda Software. He worked at the company for over 26 years and eventually climbed up to become its senior vice president of development.

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating his role at the company, gamers. Vaughn oversaw a number of legendary titles such as Fallout 4, Skyrim, Doom’s Reboot, and even the recently released Oblivion Remastered.

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If we take a look at Vaughn’s

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, it seems like he now co-owns a brewery. That’s quite a change of profession, but to each their own.

Todd Howard isn’t planning to stick around forever

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might be the last project for the developer. (Image via

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Although it’s great to see that Howard is still holding his position at Bethesda and continuing to work on the studio’s next RPGs, he once said himself that he won’t always be around.

A few years ago, while chatting with

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, Howard opened up about his vision when it comes to post-launch support for Elder Scrolls 6. This led him to say,

I probably shouldn’t say this. But if I do the math, I’m not getting any younger. How long do people play Elder Scrolls for? That may be the last one I do. I don’t know

We know for a fact that Elder Scrolls 6 is supposed to be Bethesda’s golden ticket back to the top after Starfield’s failure. While its development is in full swing, the game won’t be out for several years.

By the time Elder Scrolls 6 eventually releases, Howard will be somewhere in his 60s. Modern video game development can take a hefty toll on developers, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Howard decided to step away after this project.

There’s no denying that Bethesda has become an industry juggernaut under his watch. The studio makes more revenue than the GDP of some countries, and its every movement causes a tremor in the gaming industry. If Howard does decide to retire, he’s earned this break.