While its output has slowed dramatically over the last decade, Bethesda was one pumping out games aplenty, games that redefined the approach to many RPGs and open worlds. Then came Skyrim, and everything became a lot more glacial. In the years since, Bethesda has only released two AAA games.
Prior to that, the studio had a much more consistent output, and not just with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, either. Not only was Bethesda was publishing powerhouse, but it had quite the selection of games in its back catalog, as well. So let's take a quick look at them now, and tally up just how many games Bethesda has really made.
How Many Elder Scrolls Games Has Bethesda Made?
The very first Elder Scrolls game found its way onto personal computers back in 1994 with The Elder Scrolls: Arena. The fundamentals of the lore were all there from the beginning, even if the later games would take a dramatic turn in terms of their openness.
Game
Release Date
Platform
The Elder Scrolls: Arena
March 25th, 1994
MS-DOS
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
September 20th, 1996
MS-DOS
An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire
December 2nd, 1997
MS-DOS
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
November 14th, 1998
MS-DOS
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
May 1st, 2002
Windows, Xbox
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
March 20th, 2006
Windows, Xbox 360, PS3
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
November 11th, 2011
Windows, Xbox 360, PS3
The Elder Scrolls: Blades
March 27th, 2019
iOS, Android, Switch
The Elder Scrolls: Castles
September 10th, 2024
iOS, Android
The release schedule started to slowdown after Redguard, with Morrowind and Oblivion both releasing four years apart, and then five years for Skyrim. The latest entry is going to be breaking quite a few records though, with it currently being over a decade since the last mainline entry.
In total, Bethesda has made nine Elder Scrolls games, including every numbered entry.
There are Elder Scrolls games beyond this, such as Online and Travels, though they are not developed by Bethesda.
How Many Games Has Bethesda Made In Total?
42
The Elder Scrolls have always been the big-hitters, even compared to the size of Fallout that Bethesda later acquired. And while Starfield is the first new IP Bethesda has created in a rather long time, The Elder Scrolls is far from the only other IP they created, and especially so worked on.
In its early days, Bethesda worked on quite a few licensed games, tie-in adaptations, sports games, you name it. It was quite a wide set of genres before the studio ending up settling on its now iconic RPGs.
In fact, there are so many that would be a bit much to try list them all, so let's highlight some of the more interesting games instead:
- Gridiron! was the first game created by Bethesda, and published by EA. It would also, rather controversially, go on to be the foundations for the Madden series.
- The Terminator game, released in 1991, was the first adaptation of the film series. Skynet in particular was praised for its multiplayer and graphical quality.
- While not particularly remarkable, Bethesda originally published and then also developed entries in the racing games, IHRA Drag Racing.
In total, Bethesda has created around 40 games. Of those titles, only six have been released in the last ten years. Considering Bethesda's first game released in 1986, it has definitely slowed quite dramatically in more recent years.
