Will Shen, the lead quest designer for Starfield, has left Bethesda Softworks to join Something Wicked Games on its debut game Wyrdsong.
Shen has been with Bethesda since its 2008 post-apocalyptic shooter Fallout 3, and has since been credited on the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield.
Shen’s next step is Something Wicked Games, which was founded by ex-Bethesda project lead Jeff Gardiner and includes a number of Fallout veterans. The studio is currently working on Wyrdsong, a “highly ambitious” role-playing game that was announced at Gamescom 2022.
“Excited to announce that I’ve joined Something Wicked Games,” wrote Shen. “I’ll be working alongside an incredible group of roleplaying game developers, and it’s amazing to think we have veterans from Bethesda, Obsidian, and Bioware all on one team.”
Speaking to Game Developer, Shen revealed that his role in Wyrdsong will be to bridge Something Wicked’s narrative and design teams.
As for Wyrdsong, last year, Gardiner told PC Gamer the game is a “dark, preternatural, semi-historical open world RPG set in Middle Ages Portugal”.
Additionally, Gardiner listed FromSoftware‘s 2022 hit Elden Ring as a “huge inspiration” for Wyrdsong, and acknowledged that having so many ex-Fallout developers will have its own influence.
“I think the focus is on the lessons, not the setting and the theme of Fallout, but the RPG nature of those games,” he shared. “‘There’s choice and consequences’ is an easy thing to say. But we want to make sure the player feels those lessons we took from those games, in terms of how to craft an unbelievable story, and yet give the player the freedom to sort of make their own decisions within that story, and sort of engage with it or not.”
A release date for Wyrdsong is yet to be confirmed, as the game is currently in the early stages of being created.
In other gaming news, Bethesda’s head of publishing Pete Hines has also announced his departure from the company.