Bethesda

 Home > Browse Our Collection > Computing Companies > Bethesda
 

Bethesda has grown to be one of world’s most successful software developers / publishers. It was founded by Christopher Weaver in Bethesda, Maryland USA, initially as a division of Media Technology in 1986. In 1999 it became a subsidiary of Zenimax Media.

The company would develop and publish its own titles until 2001, when the development division was split off to form Bethesda Game Studios.

In 2020 Microsoft Studios bought the holding company Zenimax for $7.5 million dollars.

The first game that garnered attention for the company was Gridiron, the first physics-based sports title, released on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga in 1986.

Electronic Arts asked Bethesda to help finish the first John Madden Sports title, and EA acquired the rights to distribute any future versions of the Grid Iron series. After no cross-console release of Gridiron was released by EA, Bethesda stopped work on the project, and sued EA for halting the release, and incorporating their work into the next Madden title. The suit was settled out of court.

The company is best known for its Elder Scrolls series, the first title being released in 1994. As well as these games, the company produced games for film franchises, such as Star Trek & The Terminator in the early 1990s, and some of the Pirates of the Caribbean games in the 2000s.

Also in the 1990s, the company acquired studios such as Flashpoint Productions and XL Translab, the latter was a graphics company, and was moved to Bethesda’s HQ in Rockville.

By the mid 1990s, Bethesda was third behind LucasArts and Interplay in the list of the companies publishing on the PC platform.

A downturn in sales in 1999 nearly led to the company going bankrupt. Peter Hines was brought in to the marketing dept to turn around the company’s fortune.

In 2002 Weaver was no longer being paid by ZeniMax, and a lawsuit was launched by both sides, eventually settling out of court with Weaver retaining 33% of the company.

In 2007 Bethesda acquired the Fallout franchise from Interplay, releasing Fallout 3 in October 2008, and the follow up, Fallout: New Vegas in 2010, the company's biggest hit of this period was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Id Software was acquired by the company in 2009, future titles including Rage would be published by Bethesda. The company also increased it’s publishing activities from independent studios for titles like Rogue Warrior and Brink.

By the 2010s the company had published more hit games, Dishonored, and Wolfenstein, as well as their own titles The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and even mobile games based on the Elder Scrolls titles.

In 2018 Fallout 76, the huge multiplayer game was launched, but was beset by problems, with stores heavily discounting the game shortly after release.

Doom, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Wolfenstein were all published to great acclaim on the Nintendo Switch. In 2019, Rage 2 and Doom Eternal were released.

 

Software Products

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
11-11-2011
Bethesda's largest RPG to date, Skyrim launched to incredible critical and commercial success.

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Gridiron!

Gridiron!
1987
An American football game....

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Wayne Gretzky Hockey 2

Wayne Gretzky Hockey 2
1990
An American football game.......

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls Arena

The Elder Scrolls Arena
25th March 1994
The first game establishing the Elder Scrolls series.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software

The Terminator Future Shock

The Terminator Future Shock
1995
The year is 2015, and machines, under the leadership of the super-computer Skynet, control the Earth.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Zero Critical

Zero Critical
1999
You are Agent Chatt Rhuller of the ITC Special Projects Division and you've just been assigned your very first case: a homicide.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
2002
You are Agent Chatt Rhuller of the ITC Special Projects Division and you've just been assigned your very first case: a homicide.

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Includes Tribunal)

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Includes Tribunal)
2002
Has the Tribunal disk...

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon

The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon
27th June 2003
The second expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 (NTSC)

IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 (NTSC)
November 2004
The second expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Game of the Year Edition

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Game of the Year Edition
20th March 2006
Huge expansive open world game, with all the extra expansion packs...

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
20th March 2006
Huge expansive open world game...

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
24th March 2006
Huge expansive open world game......

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine
21st November 2006
An expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Star Trek: Encounters

Star Trek: Encounters
7th December 2006
Arcade style shoot 'em up featuring ships and characters from all five Star Trek series.

Manufacturer : Ubisoft
Type : Software - Game

Star Trek Legacy (Focus)

Star Trek Legacy (Focus)
22nd December 2006
Spans the entire Star Trek Universe Real time Starfleet combat Dynamic three-dimensional battlefields...

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles
30th March 2007
The second expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Star Trek Conquest

Star Trek Conquest
14th March 2008
The second expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Manufacturer : 4J Studios
Type : Software - Game

Fallout 3

Fallout 3
30th October 2008
After growing up in a bunker, the player is set to be executed as a young boy, but manages to break out of the bunker he has lived in his whole life.

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Wet

Wet
18th September 2009
After growing up in a bunker, the player is set to be executed as a young boy, but manages to break out of the bunker he has lived in his whole life.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Rogue Warrior

Rogue Warrior
27th November 2009
After growing up in a bunker, the player is set to be executed as a young boy, but manages to break out of the bunker he has lived in his whole life.

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas
19th October 2010
After growing up in a bunker, the player is set to be executed as a young boy, but manages to break out of the bunker he has lived in his whole life.

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas
19th October 2010
...

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Brink

Brink
13th May 2011
...

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Brink

Brink
13th May 2011
......

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Hunted: The Demon's Forge
31st May 2011
.........

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Special Edition)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Special Edition)
11th November 2011
............

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game

Dishonored

Dishonored
9th October 2012
...............

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Fallout 4

Fallout 4
10th November 2015
..................

Manufacturer : Bethesda
Type : Software - Game

Fallout 76 Tricentennial Edition

Fallout 76 Tricentennial Edition
14th November 2018
Includes bonus in-game items....

Manufacturer : Bethesda Softworks
Type : Software - Game


Photographs Relating to Bethesda :


 

Bethesda

 

 

Help support the museum by buying from the museum shop

View all items

Founding Sponsors
redgate Google ARM Real VNC Microsoft Research
Heritage Lottery Funded
Heritage Lottery Fund
Accredited Museum