Games like Skyrim and the Fallout series owe their existence to Wayne Gretzky, the former professional ice hockey player and head coach in Canada.
This might sound ridiculous; there’s no obvious connection between Gretzky and these games at first glance. However, one interview with Bethesda’s executive producer, Todd Howard, shows us exactly how the ice hockey legend’s existence eventually gave way to several classic video games.
How One Man’s Existence Leads to Games Like Skyrim
In an interview with Esquire, Howard details exactly how he got his start at Bethesda. It all started with his love for video games. Back in the 80s, he already showed an interest in games; not just in playing them, but in wanting to understand how they worked.
Even though he was a business major, video games were called to his heart. He eventually began making his own, with one of his first attempts on an Apple II computer. While his game had a “really sick” title screen, as he puts it, that’s unfortunately all it was. Because of memory limitations, the game couldn’t run past that.
While the attempt wasn’t a success, it wasn’t a failure. It got Howard’s brain running and motivated to continue cracking at it.
Eventually, Howard married his high school girlfriend in 1995. She changed his life in many ways; one being something as simple as gifting him a video game two years earlier. It was Wayne Gretzky Hockey, and Howard found out the game was made by a small company called Bethesda, barely employing 40 people.
Howard applied but was rejected as he was still a student. He continued trying until he finally got hired a year after his graduation. From a brand-new employee, Howard gradually made his way up to the top, currently an executive producer at the company.
Howard’s Unmistakable Impact on Bethesda
There’s no denying that Howard has changed the way people look at Bethesda, and his impact on the company and the gaming industry as a whole is the legacy he’ll leave behind when he retires.
Were it not for Gretzky picking up hockey and being as good as he is, the hockey game probably wouldn’t have been made. If that were the case, Howard might not have applied to Bethesda.
Would Skyrim and Fallout be remotely similar to how they are now, or would they even exist? We can’t be sure, but what we are sure of is our gratitude for Gretzky’s existence.
Howard didn’t just help make new games at Bethesda; he changed the way it approaches game development, something it follows to this day.
Instead of aiming for quick, cheap, annual title releases, he pushed for better quality and bigger games to be made over a longer period. A highly risky move at the time, but one that worked out for the better.
Where do you think Bethesda would be without Howard? Let us know in the comments below!
