Skyrim content better explored in game rather than external media

skyrim

It used to be that video games existed as a standalone piece of entertainment – as something one could pick up, play through, and put down again. One could experience everything that world had to offer simply by ‘beating’ the game, and the story of that world only continued with the next release in the series. Recently, however, games have stepped out of this solitary, existing as their own entity format and embraced the larger interconnectivity that comes with a multiple media format release strategy.

We’re talking comics. Books. Media that extends the story and history of the games and provides more information about the world and the characters that populate that world. It seems every triple A title has comics and novels released at the same time as the game, as development studio after development studio hops on the marketing bandwagon and attempts to extend their IP beyond the simple video game release.

One triple A title which may just buck this trend, however, is Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Speaking with Game Informer at the recent DICE Summit held in Las Vegas earlier this month, Todd Howard, Skyrim’s Game Director, mentioned that his preference for exploring Skyrim’s world lay in exploration within the game itself – that DLC which explored elements of the setting was preferable to other mediums such as comics.

“I’d like to keep the content itself in the games. For example, if people like the dragon priests and what they do, then let’s maybe get that in some downloadable content. But I’d rather it be that avenue than a comic or something like that.”

An interesting remark given the recent proliferation of world-extending external media additions that many high profile releases have favoured. Will there ever be a series of Elder Scrolls themed comics or books? I suppose you should never say never, but given Howard’s coments above, it appears unlikely, at least for the immediate future.

For the full interview with Todd Howard, check out the Game Informer website.

Source: Game Informer


About the Author: Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Tash is a self-diagnosed gaming fanatic with a doctorate in Psychology. She's also a self-confessed Mass Effect fangirl and will likely talk your ears off if you ever get her started on the subject. A lover of all things RPG and adventure, she has more gamer related action figures and memorabilia than any 30 something year old professional has a right to own, and has spent more time than she’d like to admit to daydreaming about exactly what she would do should the Zombie Apocalypse actually happen.

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