Smartphone-spel blir allt viktigare för Bethesda som har släppt/ska släppa titlar som Fallout Shelter, The Elder Scrolls: Legends och The Elder Scrolls: Blades. Hur man ska tjäna pengar på mobilspel har varit en het potatis och när Fallout- och Elder Scrolls-producenten Todd Howard intervjuades av Games Industry berättade han att det funnits rejäla påtryckningar från konsulter för att ha stora system där folk kan betala för saker. Det är dock inget Howard gillat och inte heller i kommande The Elder Scrolls: Blades kommer det bli tal om något sådant:
"It's definitely a lighter touch, which surprisingly worked very well for us in Fallout Shelter. I was forced to meet with a lot of 'monetisation experts' during Fallout Shelter that didn't work for us. I said 'that's nice' and then it came out and the first week it was above Candy Crush with a very light touch... We did learn a lot though."
Howard fortsätter med att förklara att det finns flera områden som måste stämma för att folk ska fortsätta vilja spela:
"How do we keep somebody who's playing the game a lot?. How do we give them value beyond 'here's a timer, give us some money'?"
Smartphone-spel ska även bli Bethesdas väg in på den kinesiska marknaden, enligt Howard som säger:
"We're working with Shanda Games in China, which is doing an online version of Fallout Shelter there, so we've made some inroads. I think Blades, whereas it's not built for China per se, knowing their gaming tastes, it is definitely applicable in China and other parts of the world where Fallout Shelter and some other things we do are maybe not as much.
It's one of those things where if you look at Chinese games, people will tell you they need to be like this, they need to have this art style they need to have crap all over the screen... But Blades, there's nothing else like it, but I view that as a positive to whatever market it's in."
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