Bethesda Should Abandon Creation Engine For Unreal Engine 5, Says Former Dev

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Unreal Engine 5 For Elder Scrolls 6 Would Have Been Brilliant!

Story Highlight
  • The former Bethesda art lead, Nate Purkeypile, says the studio should dump the Creation Engine for Unreal Engine 5.
  • He thinks games would hold up better on UE5, as the in-house engine makes development long and complex.
  • The higher-ups at the studio are unlikely to make the shift, as upcoming titles are rumored to use the in-house engine.

Xbox’s Bethesda studio has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. The studio’s last AAA release, Starfield, was asserted to shake the entire industry but received widely mixed reception after launch. Many fans argue that Bethesda’s in-house engine—the Creation Engine—is the likely cause behind underwhelming releases and cannot match modern standards.

Now, even an ex-Bethesda lead artist thinks the same, arguing that Xbox should dump the Creation Engine in favor of Unreal Engine 5. It is a move that many popular gaming studios have made in recent years due to convenience.

Why it matters: The words of the former Bethesda artist suggest that the Creation Engine truly reached its peak long ago and cannot handle the modern AAA entries anymore that the studio has come to expect of it.

Speaking in an interview with the YouTube channel KIWI TALKZ, the ex-Bethesda art lead Nate Purkeypile said that games would hold up much better on Unreal Engine 5. However, he doubts that the studio would make such a huge shift despite it happening often lately.

Having made open world games with both engines, to me it’s like absolutely no question that I think things would end up being better [On UE5].

The artist uses Starfield to describe some of the hurdles that the Creation Engine faced. Making rendering and animation systems reach certain standards took a lot of development time, making the overall process incredibly complex. 

Starfield
A developer previously admitted that Starfield is flawed, but its sequel will be much better.

All in all, it is best to take the artist’s words with a pinch of salt. Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls 6 is also allegedly using an upgraded version of the Creation Engine. Therefore, a switch-up is unlikely to happen now.

Do you think Bethesda should switch to Unreal Engine 5 despite the performance concerns, or is Creation Engine good enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the official Tech4Gamers forum.

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