Will Shen, who worked on Starfield as lead quest designer, has left Bethesda to join Something Wicked Games. In his new role, Shen will be the lead content designer on the studio’s first game, the open-world fantasy RPG Wyrdsong.
Shen is a Bethesda veteran, with credits on The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. He was also the lead designer on Far Harbor, an eerie piece of story-driven DLC for Fallout 4, which had players navigate to the sinister island of Far Harbor to solve a tantalizing mystery.
Though it’s something of a newcomer, Something Wicked Games comprises a range of industry veterans, including CEO Jeff Gardiner, who co-founded the studio in 2022. Gardiner is also a Bethesda veteran, having spent more than 10 years at the studio with credits on titles ranging from The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion to Fallout 4. In this way, it seems as though Shen will fit in perfectly at Something Wicked.
Something Wicked’s upcoming RPG Wyrdsong is still shrouded in a great deal of mystery. However, even at this early stage, we know that the RPG will be set in medieval Portugal and revolve around the mythology of the Knights Templar.
Speaking with TRG, Gardiner set out his goals surrounding Wyrdsong and the new studio: “I wanted to create a safe space for creatives; that was my number one goal. You do that by establishing trust, by allowing people to fail and not feel like they did something wrong, by people feeling comfortable throwing a terrible idea in the room, without any bad repercussions.”
Though the game has little more than an announcement trailer at present, it’s clear that, with talent like Shen and Gardiner behind it, Wyrdsong may well turn out to be something special – perhaps earning a place amongst the best RPGs.
Looking to play something immersive while we wait for more Wyrdsong news? Check out our list of the best single-player games and our guide to the best story games.
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