Bruce Nesmith is a developer who worked at Bethesda Game Studios on Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 as a quest designer and writer, as well as on Fallout Shelter as an additional designer.
Career[]
Work on the Fallout series[]
On Fallout 3, Nesmith worked on some of the game's quests, including design for Rivet City.[1] He also performed a significant amount of systems design, including character progression, creature stats and capabilities, as well as the in-game economy.[2]
Other work[]
Nesmith worked in the gaming industry beginning in the 1980s, when he started at TSR, Inc. working on games for the Apple II Plus and Dungeons & Dragons. He came to be the creative director at TSR and worked on many Dungeons & Dragons-related titles through the mid-1990s, until he was hired at Bethesda Game Studios. At Bethesda, he was a significant contributor to the writing of The Elder Scrolls franchise, dating back to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and as the lead designer of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Nesmith retired from game design and left Bethesda in 2021. His current pursuits include novel writing.[3][4]
Employment history[]
| From | To | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 1995 | TSR | Creative Director |
| 1995 | 1998 | Bethesda Game Studios | Senior Producer |
| 2004 | 2021 | Bethesda Game Studios | Design Director |
Credits[]
Fallout series[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Fallout 3 | Quest Designer & Writer |
| 2015 | Fallout Shelter | Additional Designer |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Quest Designer & Writer |
| 2018 | Fallout 76 | Quest Designer & Writer |
Other work[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Lead Designer |
Behind the scenes[]
Nesmith included several easter eggs referencing members of his family in various Fallout games. Danielle's book in Fallout 3 is a reference to his daughter. In Fallout 4, the characters George Cooper and Anne Hargraves are named after Nesmith's parents. In the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor, the gift card note at the old pond house references his daughter Jessica's wedding, which happened around the time of that add-on's development.[5]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
External links[]
Interviews
- Bruce Nesmith Interview (RPGamer - March 21, 2022)
- Bruce Nesmith - TSR, Bethesda (Video Game Newsroom Time Machine - September 7, 2023)
- Skyrim's Lead Designer On Starfield's Origins And Bethesda's Evolution (MinnMax - October 23, 2023)
- #171 - Bruce Nesmith Interview (Designer On Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4 & Starfield) (Kiwi Talkz - August 18, 2024)
- Interview with Bruce Nesmith - Author and Game Designer (Epic Realms - April 22, 2025)
- Exclusive Interview: D&D, Skyrim, Author: Bruce Nesmith (Nerdgasm Toy News, OasisAvatar - July 22, 2025)
Podcasts
- 75: Bruce Nesmith (Me and Steve Talk RPGs - March 22, 2022)
- RPG Designer Bruce Nesmith – Episode 255 (Shane Plays - April 15, 2022)
- Matt Chat 485: Bruce Nesmith of Bethesda and TSR (Matt Barton - May 2, 2022)
- Bruce Nesmith on Crafting Villains (The Corner of Story and Game - March 30, 2023)
References[]
- ↑ OXM: Bruce Nesmith
- ↑ Matt Chat 485: Bruce Nesmith of Bethesda and TSR (reference starts at 1:12:47):
Bruce Nesmith: "I was fortunate enough to do some quests in Fallout 3 and do a lot of systems work on Fallout 3. Most of the character progression stuff is mine, most of the creature stats and creature capabilities are mine. A lot of the economy is mine." - ↑ Bruce Nesmith Interview
- ↑ The actual Elder Scrolls 6 reveal will probably be like Fallout 4's, predicts former dev: "You won't hear much in the way of details until 6 months before"
- ↑ Epic Realms: "Interview with Bruce Nesmith - Author and Game Designer" (39:19)