Todd Howard

Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, director, and producer who serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios. Joining the company in 1994, he has since led the development of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, as well as Starfield.

Early life and education Todd Andrew Howard was born in 1970 in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania, to Ronald and Priscilla Howard. His elder brother, Jeffrey Mark Howard, later became the director of creative affairs for Disney, where he oversaw the production of Bambi II. He developed an interest in computers, particularly video games, at a very young age. Howard says the 1980s role-playing video games Wizardry and Ultima III: Exodus were inspirations for his future games. Howard later stated that a business major appeared as the easiest path through college. His first game development credit for Bethesda was as the producer and designer of The Terminator: Future Shock (1995), followed by work as a designer on Skynet and The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, both released in 1996. He was project leader for the first time on The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, released in 1998.

In 2000, Howard was appointed project leader and designer for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and the expansions that followed. After this, he served as game director and executive producer of Fallout 3, released in 2008.

Howard returned to The Elder Scrolls series to lead the development as the creative director of its fifth installment, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which was released in November 2011. He subsequently directed Fallout 4, released in November 2015, and produced Fallout 76, a multiplayer installment in the series that attracted criticism upon its release in November 2018. Howard also served as the executive producer of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, released by MachineGames and Lucasfilm Games.

Opinions and recognition

Howard admitted in 2011 that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had sacrificed what made The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind "particular", saying: "With Oblivion, we're dealing with the capital province, and we wanted to get back to the more classic Arena and Daggerfall feel of a fantasy world that felt more refined and welcoming. But in that, we sacrificed some of what made Morrowind special: the wonder of discovery." He said Bethesda's philosophy for The Elder Scrolls games was to allow people to "live another life, in another world".

In 2012, Howard also said he was favorable to modding in video games, claiming he did not understand why many developers do not allow it. In 2016, after the release of Fallout 4, Howard admitted that he was well aware of the criticisms received by the game, especially with regards to the dialogue system, saying: "The way we did some dialogue stuff [in Fallout 4], that didn't work as well. But I know the reasons we tried that – to make a nice interactive conversation – but [it was] less successful than some other things in the game."

Howard has spoken at industry events and conferences. In 2009, he spoke to developers at the D.I.C.E. Summit, sharing his rules of game development. He returned as a keynote speaker at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit. He said developers should ignore demographics and installed base, and follow their passions, saying that "if install base really mattered, we'd all make board games, because there are a lot of tables".

Howard's work has often received attention by the generalist media and press; his games have been featured in Newsweek, CNN, USA Today, and The Today Show. The high popularity of the games Howard has directed and produced has turned him, and some of his quotes, into Internet memes.

Howard was the 16th recipient of a Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award. The magazine GamePro named him among the "Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming over the Last 20 Years". He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2017.

During an appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast, Howard stated that he considers Tetris to be the greatest game ever created. He also stated that Ultima VII: The Black Gate is one of his personal favorites, and it had a large influence on the games he has developed.

Personal life Howard married Kimberly Yaissle on July 8, 1995, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Ludography Year Title Role(s) 1995 The Terminator: Future Shock Production, additional design 1996 Skynet Production, design The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall Additional design 1998 The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard Game director, project leader, design, writer 1999 Protector Executive producer 2000 Sea Dogs Additional Game Design and Editing/Writing 2002 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game director, project leader and original concept 2003 The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon Executive producer 2004 The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey 2006 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2007 The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles 2008 Fallout 3 Game director 2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 2012The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – DawnguardThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – HearthfireThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn 2015 Fallout Shelter Executive producer Fallout 4 Game director 2018 Fallout 76 Executive producer 2019 The Elder Scrolls: Blades 2023 Starfield Game director 2024 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Executive producer and Story The Elder Scrolls VI Game director Fallout 5 Game director

Uncredited Year Title Role 1994 NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2 Producer 1994 The Elder Scrolls: Arena Tester 2010 Fallout: New Vegas Advisor/Special Thanks 2014 The Elder Scrolls Online Advisor/Special Thanks