GamesRadar interviewed a former Bethesda artist and revealed that there was indeed a heated discussion within the team during the early development of “Starfield” about “whether to abandon Creation Engine and switch to Unreal Engine 5.” The outside world’s impression of the Creation Engine has long been that it is old and backward, but what developers see internally is another story: this engine has crucial support for Bethesda’s development rhythm and product strategy.
The reason for the pressure is very practical.
The reason that convinced the team to consider UE5 at that time is not difficult to understand: Unreal Engine 5’s lead in rendering capabilities and tool chains is a great attraction for any 3A game that needs to keep pace with the times. For a studio that still wants to be on par with other major studios in terms of specifications in the 2020s, “sticking to the old engine” seems like a hindrance.
In the end, what made Creation Engine the winner was something most people didn’t expect.
The former artist revealed that during the evaluation, the team found that the Creation Engine’s greatest asset was not its code architecture, but how well it fit into the community of mod creators. The modding tool chain and community ecosystem Bethesda has built over the years is a moat that other engines cannot quickly replicate. Once the engine is changed, it means giving up a community of tens of thousands of creators and the long-tail commercial value built around this group of people.
This choice seems to be the right one now!
The article compiled community data after the release of “Starfield” and pointed out that even after the topic cooled down, discussions around modding still provided continued attention to the game. For Bethesda, long-term modding support is not just an after-sales service, but a core tool for product longevity and brand adhesion.