Latest news with #TheElderScrolls
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Todd Howard joins fans mourning "the driving force in the creation of The Elder Scrolls and the foundations of Bethesda as a game studio," Julian LeFay: "Without Julian, we would not be here today"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Bethesda lead Todd Howard has paid tribute to the "father of Elder Scrolls," Julian LeFay, upon news of his death. Over on Twitter, Howard calls LeFay a "driving force in the creation of The Elder Scrolls and the foundations of Bethesda as a game studio." "Simply put, without Julian, we would not be here today," Howard says. "If you had the opportunity to work with Julian, you were blessed to know a one-of-a-kind force of nature, who pushed everyone to create something special. His work and spirit will live on both in our memories and in our games." News of LeFay's passing comes from another studio he helped set up, OnceLost Games, which tells fans his "legacy will live on in every realm, every quest, and every moment of wonder" in the upcoming fantasy RPG The Wayward Realms. LeFay initially joined Bethesda shortly after its formation, helping put together formative Elder Scrolls games like Arena and Daggerfall – such was his influence, the deity Julianos is named after him. He would go on to co-found OnceLost Games alongside other Bethesda veterans before announcing The Wayward Realms in 2021. Last week, OnceLost Games confirmed that LeFay would be stepping away from the studio to "live his final moments surrounded by his loved ones." Today, the studio said he passed away after a "courageous battle with cancer." "He touched the lives of millions of players worldwide and inspired countless developers to push creative boundaries," they said, before calling his death "an immeasurable loss for our team, our community, and our industry." Solve the daily Crossword
Metro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
The Elder Scrolls creator Julian LeFay dies following battle with cancer
One of the original creators behind The Elder Scrolls has died of cancer, as his studio and Bethesda pays tribute. Although Bethesda's Todd Howard is always closely associated with The Elder Scrolls, and has directed the last several entries, he wasn't one of the original creators, with that credit instead going to Vijay Lakshman, Ted Peterson, and Julian LeFay. The latter worked as a programmer and chief engineer at Bethesda until 1998, before he founded independent studio OnceLost Games in 2019, with Lakshman and Peterson. The studio is currently developing an open world role-playing game entitled The Wayward Realms, described as a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall. Last week, OnceLost Games said LeFay, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, had stepped away from the industry to be 'surrounded by his loved ones' as his condition worsened. Five days later, the studio has announced LeFay has died, aged 59. 'It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we inform our community of the passing of Julian LeFay, our beloved technical director and co-founder of OnceLost Games,' the post on X reads. 'Julian LeFay was not just a colleague – he was a visionary who fundamentally shaped the games industry as we know it today. Known as the 'Father of The Elder Scrolls', Julian directed the creation of legendary titles including Elder Scrolls 1 & 2: Arena, Daggerfall, and Battlespire. His pioneering work established the foundation for open world RPGs and influenced countless developers and games that followed.' — OnceLost Games (@OnceLostGames) July 23, 2025 Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. They added: 'Throughout his courageous battle with cancer, Julian never wavered in his passion for The Wayward Realms. Even during his illness, he continued to share his vision with our team, mentor our developers, and ensure that every aspect of the game reflected his commitment to creating something truly extraordinary. His strength, determination, and unwavering focus inspire us all.' OnceLost Games described LeFay's death as an 'immeasurable loss' for the team, but said they were 'more committed than ever' to finish work on The Wayward Realms 'exactly as Julian envisioned it'. More Trending 'Our development continues with the same passion, technical excellence, and attention to detail that Julian demanded,' they added. 'Every feature, every system, and every player experience will aim to reflect his dedication to creating 'The Grand RPG' that redefines what the genre can be. 'Ted Peterson, Eric Heberling, and our entire development team remain fully dedicated to this mission. We will continue to share development updates, maintain our transparency with the community, and ensure that The Wayward Realms becomes the groundbreaking experience Julian knew it could be.' The Wayward Realms was announced in 2019 and is the studio's first project. A Kickstarter campaign to fund an early access build hit its goal in May last year. Bethesda is currently developing the next entry in The Elder Scrolls series, which is expected to launch at some point after 2026. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 all but confirmed for next Nintendo Direct MORE: Battlefield 6 release date and open beta details leak ahead of reveal trailer MORE: The 20 best Commodore Amiga games to celebrate the 40th anniversary
Metro
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Creator of The Elder Scrolls quits games industry due to cancer
The 'father' of The Elder Scrolls has been forced to abandon his work on a new game, due to his failing health. While Bethesda's Todd Howard is very much the current face of The Elder Scrolls, he didn't begin working on the series until the second game. As such, the people that deserve the credit for creating the series are Vijay Lakshman, Ted Peterson, and Julian LeFay. All three have long since left Bethesda and, in 2019, founded their own studio called OnceLost Games to make The Wayward Realms, another fantasy action role-player that's billed as a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall. A recent update on the game brings no good news though, as the studio has announced that, after a long battle with cancer, LeFay has had to step down due to his worsening condition. The news was relayed in a brief YouTube video by The Wayward Realms executive producer Victor Villarreal, who also shared a message from Peterson in the video description. According to Peterson, LeFay's doctors have said his time is limited and thus 'must step away from OnceLost Games for his health and to live his final moments surrounded by his loved ones.' This means he won't be around to see The Wayward Realms launch, but Peterson added, 'Julian has complete faith in the ability of the team to bring the game he has envisioned to life for this incredible community. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. 'Anticipating this possibility, Julian has documented his vision and concepts well, ensuring the team is left with the resources needed to complete the game. The full game, beyond the Early Access build.' LeFay is Danish and joined Bethesda in 1987, just one year after the studio's founding. He was brought on to the first The Elder Scrolls game -The Elder Scrolls: Arena – as a programmer and went on to direct the sequel. More Trending While he was by no means the sole contributor to the series' creation, he is credited with coming up with the name for The Elder Scrolls and is often referred to as the 'father' of the series. LeFay left Bethesda in 1998 – although he did work a little on The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind – and after brief stints at Sega and Blockbuster, reunited with Peterson and Lakshman to open their own studio. Although their first project, The Wayward Realms, was announced in 2019, a Kickstarter campaign to raise $500,000 to fund an early access build only went live in May 2024. It successfully met its target in just 12 days, although the plan is to take the early access build to publishers to seek further funding for a full release. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: The Elder Scrolls 6 is still on the way – here's what we know so far MORE: Fallout 5 may not be made by Bethesda as Elder Scrolls 6 enters 'playable state' MORE: The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered review – remaster of the year
Metro
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: How would you improve Mario Kart World?
The Wednesday letters page fears next year could see the reveal of the PS6 or next gen Xbox, as one reader wants a Fallout game set in Russia. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Constructive criticism I've really been enjoying Mario Kart World but there is a few tweak/options I would like to see. The obvious one is three lap races, but they need to reduce the players to 12 in that mode, as 24 is just too chaotic on small courses. Also, I would like to see the options back that can turn what weapons you want on/off in private matches, as I feel some are too overpowered. The last thing is they need to improve the battle mode, it hasn't been good since Mario Kart 64 and I couldn't put my finger on it till I played it again. In Mario Kart 64 karts turn really sharp, so you can spin round quickly to attack or change direction, in Mario Kart World the karts feel sluggish in turning and it takes an age to turn round, making it frustrating. Maybe they need to add a handbrake option but then I realised that all the karts feel like that, even when racing on some sharp circuits. All the karts struggle to turn sharp, even when you slow down, so I feel all the karts need a handling tweak. But even with these issues I can't stop playing the Knockout Tour mode, it's got that one more go because I think I can do better. Rob Old/new blood I would be absolutely fine with someone else making a new Fallout, or The Elder Scrolls for that matter. Bethesda broke the mould with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3 but all those games are very old now and they've not done anything as good since. In fact, they've barely done anything at all since. Apart from New Vegas 2 by Obsidian. I think my dream project would probably be Fallout set in Russia by one of these new start-ups founded by ex-BioWare or CD Projekt devs. There seems to be plenty of them about nowadays and I'd hope they'd be able to combine some old school experience with new ideas from a hungrier team. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Something tells me Todd Howard will drag his heels though and this chance to expand things won't be the opportunity it should've been. Taylor Moon It's happening again So we're probably going to see the hype for the PlayStation 6 and next gen Xbox building next year, right? Possibly even an official reveal for one or both. I'm not going to bother saying it's too soon, because I assume that's what everyone's thinking, but what is this going to mean for new game releases? Sony has already slowed to a crawl so are they just going to give up entirely and try and start with a fresh sheet? Could Microsoft be thinking of holding things like Fable back, maybe that's why we haven't seen it properly yet. Maybe they'll even make it an exclusive again, not that I think they should. Although I think this will happen, I hope it doesn't because I don't want to go through the whole circus of reveals, pre-orders, bad launch line-ups, and two years of middling games before they get into gear. It always happens and we don't need it again so soon. Winston Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The next reveal It's quite perplexing to nail down when the next trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 will be announced. But since the game is set to release in May 2026, surely it could be either January or March at the latest? Personally, as long as it includes a release date and a gameplay reveal, since we've yet to actually see any footage nad we've only seen the backdrop of Vice City, Jason and Lucia's reveals, and not much else. I'm hoping personally to see more from the numerous rural areas of Vice City. If there's any wacky characters to meet, the pastimes, and hobbies. If we'll see surfing and beach activities, for example. Maybe even throw in a strip club as well. I'd also like to see how the wanted system works. Will an army response be warranted, after the maximum wanted level is achieved, like the old titles, or is it more realistic? I'm just very much anticipating the gameplay reveal and to see if it's a change from GTA 5, or maybe it's just a similar follow-up. With the delays I expect interstellar quality. As far as my gaming life is concerned, I'm currently playing Assassin's Creed Shadows on PlayStation 5. So far, so good. Shahzaib Sadiq Marry and reproduce Anyone remember when people were defending the Activision Blizzard acquisition and rubbishing people who said there'd be job cuts? We don't hear from those people much anymore, huh? And now the other obvious thing has been proven: Microsoft wants to replace everyone with AI. Because I know I can't wait to play a game where the story and level design was created by a puffed up autocorrect. For some reason I can't help but think of the John Carpenter film They Live. I used to think that message was too blunt and comical but as time goes on you realise that consumerism really is that blatant. Just take everything companies throw at you and never question authority. Gifford Direct requirements Count me as one of those also desperate for a Nintendo Direct… and I haven't even upgraded to the Switch 2 yet. To say the console launch has been a disappointment is obviously ridiculous, it's only been out a month, Mario Kart has reviewed well (though there is a surprisingly about of discourse around it) and the machine is selling like hot cakes. However, the lack of nailed on releases dates, news over third party support, and Nintendo's big franchises AWOL has me a little worried. Like a letter the other day said, I was expecting Nintendo to come out firing their big cannons not the staid rollout we've seen. The varying quality of the ports so far also has me concerned; Cyberpunk 2077 looks good for a handheld… but it is a noticeable step down on PlayStation 5 from what I've seen in side by sides. Hitman is a poor effort and Wild Hearts S dropped last week with shocking results, looking worse than the five-year-old Monster Hunter Rise on the original Switch. You might expect this from a new format, but I haven't yet upgraded to PlayStation 5 either (like the Reader's Feature at the weekend, I'm stuck on last gen completely, with Switch and a PlayStation 4) and looking at the current situation on Switch 2 does have me thinking ,'Why wouldn't I just get a PlayStation 5?'. I mean I could be playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth or Baldur's Gate 3 out of the box next week, instead of keeping fingers crossed for inferior Switch 2 editions however many years down the road. Nintendo will be able to ride out the year (and probably next) with upgrading super fans… but need to do more to entice the next level down of Switch user to invest. Marc GC: Third party support for the Switch 1 was very poor and yet it could end up as the best-selling console of all time. The Switch 2 already seems to be doing better in the regard, assuming the current issues don't linger. Zero information What happened to that Star Wars XCOM game? Zero Company. I was really looking forward to that, but we still haven't got any real gameplay or sign of when it's coming out. I don't mind a teaser a long time before a game comes out, but I do like at least a hint of when that'll be. Have we had all the Star Wars events this year, is that what we're waiting for? I'm really hoping for EA to comment on Star Wars Battlefront 3 too. I love that Battlefront 2 is having a moment but I have no idea if a new sequel could happen. Sausegg GC: We've had Star Wars Day and Star Wars Celebration already this year, so there's really no way to guess when it will be show again. Maybe Gamescom or The Game Awards. To grind or not to grind In regards to game difficulty, I don't think there's ever going to be a consensus on if games should always have difficulty levels or not, but there's something else that has been bugging me since playing Lies Of P and that's levelling up characters. In Lies Of P you collect ergo as you defeat enemies, which you then exchange to increase your character's ability. This ultimately means you just replay levels until you've the boss has got easy enough to beat. The game has no difficulty setting, but any concept of the boss being an intentional difficulty level by the developer is lost. It's a similar situation in Clair Obscur, except that game also lets you pick a difficulty setting too. I'm awful at parrying, so when it got to bosses I had no chance with I made it easier (which I'm very thankful for). But later in the game I noticed recommended levels, that different guides were suggesting, were around 10 levels higher than what I was on. So, after replaying some of them I realised the levels people were suggesting make the boss fights easier than mainlining it on the difficulty below. These are far from the first games to be set up like this. I'm sure most of us as some point have got completely stuck on a boss, looked it up on YouTube and found everyone else has a health bar twice the size. Personally, I'd rather games let you pick a difficulty level that gives the right challenge for your ability followed by the satisfaction that you achieved it. Otherwise, you defeat a boss, but did you really do it, or have you levelled so far you're now in story mode? Tim GC: We mean… that's the whole nature of role-playing games, especially more old school ones. Inbox also-rans Can confirm that I also love John Wick Hex. There are dozens of us! Dozens! Opal fruit I would absolutely love it if Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 convinced Square Enix to make the next mainline Final Fantasy turn-based. I can't see it though, they'll chicken out and overcomplicate it. Turo More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next Assassin's Creed game? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the hardest game on PS5? MORE: Games Inbox: What is the easiest Soulsborne game?
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft layoffs strike Candy Crush and Call of Duty studios; what it means for Xbox, Game Pass, and flagship franchises
In a shocking turn, Microsoft's gaming division began cutting hundreds of employees on Wednesday, July 2. This is the second major layoff in months and the largest in the last two years. This week, the mass layoffs rolled through its global studios, with the makers of Candy Crush and Call of Duty. Last year in June, Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers. The job cuts come as part of a wider corporate downsizing, with Microsoft announcing a staggering 9,000 layoffs across all departments on Wednesday. According to ToI, the subsidiaries across the gaming industry were told that they would be affected by the layoffs, including the King division, the company that makes Candy Crush. The company's giant Stockholm-based King studio is cutting 10 per cent of its staff, which is about 200 jobs. Along with this, Call of Duty maker Raven Software has announced workforce reductions. *MICROSOFT TO CUT 9,000 WORKERS IN SECOND WAVE OF MAJOR LAYOFFSWe are in a recession. Microsoft is making job cuts in the Xbox division as well Employees at ZeniMax Media, the parent company of studios such as Bethesda, known for Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, have also been notified about ongoing layoffs. Xbox teams based in the U.S. are anticipated to receive updates by the end of the week. The restriction marks another setback for Microsoft's gaming segment, which already faced 6,000 layoffs in May, primarily affecting the product and engineering teams. With over 15,000 employees laid off in just two rounds this year, it now stands as the company's most significant workforce reduction since the tech industry layoffs took place during the pandemic. Candy Crush and Call of Duty impacted as Xbox faces the consequences of the Activision mega acquisition According to Bloomberg, the Microsoft gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, said, "To position gaming for enduring success, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness." However, Spencer did not reveal the exact numbers; the memo confirmed that affected employees would be 'given priority review' if they applied for other jobs within the company. Amid all of this, many in the gaming division, particularly those in Europe, faced more confusion than comfort. What's next for Microsoft gaming? Microsoft insists its 'platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger,' signalling an ongoing commitment to Game Pass, cloud gaming, and flagship franchise titles. However, with thousands of jobs eliminated and several studios shut down or merged, the company's future in gaming appears more streamlined but also more uncertain. The company has not disclosed the future titles or projects that may be scaled back due to the restructuring of the company.
