Bethesda Veteran Reflects on His Departure After Creating Three Legendary Titles

At the Game Developers Conference, Nathan Purkeypile, the former lead artist at Bethesda, shared his reasons for leaving the company after 14 years. He contributed to major titles such as Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Fallout 4.

Nathan Purkeypile

The designer departed from Bethesda in 2021 during the development of Starfield and transitioned to indie game development. Purkeypile admitted, “I didn’t feel a strong urge to jump back into a major AAA project and pursue the same goals.” According to him, the success of Skyrim and Fallout was not solely due to talent but also a result of fortunate circumstances.

Nathan Purkeypile

It’s worth noting that Purkeypile recently launched The Axis Unseen, a horror-action game that incorporates RPG elements and hunting simulation. Although the project has not yet achieved widespread popularity, it holds a «very positive» rating on Steam based on 228 reviews.