Todd Howard | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Howard in 2024 | |
| Born | Todd Andrew Howard 1970 (age 55–56) |
| Alma mater | College of William & Mary (BBA) |
| Occupations | Video game designer,director,producer |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Employer | Bethesda Game Studios |
| Known for | The Elder Scrolls,Fallout |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an Americanvideo game designer,director, andproducer. He serves as director and executive producer atBethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of theFallout andThe Elder Scrolls series. He was also the game director forStarfield.
Todd Andrew Howard was born in 1970 inLower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania, to Ronald and Priscilla Howard. His elder brother, Jeffrey Mark Howard, later became the director of creative affairs forDisney, where he oversaw the production ofBambi II.[1][2][3] He developed an interest in computers, particularly video games, at a very young age.[4] Howard says the 1980srole-playing video gamesWizardry andUltima III: Exodus were inspirations for his future games.[4]
Howard attendedEmmaus High School inEmmaus, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1989.[3] He then attended theCollege of William & Mary inWilliamsburg, Virginia, where he majored in business while taking computer classes for credit. He graduated from William and Mary in 1993, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.[2][3][5] Howard later stated that a business major appeared as the easiest path through college.[2][4]
During the holiday break of his senior year in college, Howard obtained a copy ofWayne Gretzky Hockey (1988) byBethesda Softworks inRockville, Maryland. OnMartin Luther King Jr. Day, he visited the offices of Bethesda Softworks, which he passed by on his commute to school.[2][4] He asked for a job at the company but was rejected and told that he needed to finish school as a prerequisite. After graduating, he returned to Bethesda seeking a job, but was rejected again due to a lack of job opportunities then at the company. Howard then started working for a smaller game company inYorktown, Virginia, which enabled him to visit several conventions like theConsumer Electronics Show, where he continued approaching Bethesda to request being hired.[4]
Bethesda Softworks eventually recruited Howard in 1994 as aproducer.[3][4][6] His first game development credit for Bethesda was as the producer and designer ofThe Terminator: Future Shock (1995), followed by work as a designer onSkynet andThe Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, both released in 1996.[7] He was project leader for the first time onThe Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, released in 1998.[8]
In 2000, Howard was appointed project leader and designer forThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and the expansions that followed.[8] The game was released in 2002 and was a critical and commercial success, winning severalGame of the Year awards. He then led the creation ofThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) as its executive producer.[9] After this, he served as game director and executive producer ofFallout 3, released in 2008.[10][11]
Howard returned toThe 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.[12] He subsequently directedFallout 4, released in November 2015,[13] and producedFallout 76, a multiplayer installment in the series that attracted criticism upon its release in November 2018.[14] Howard also served as the executive producer ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, released byMachineGames andLucasfilm Games.[15]
.jpg)
Howard admitted in 2011 thatThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had sacrificed what madeThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind "particular", saying: "WithOblivion, we're dealing with the capital province, and we wanted to get back to the more classicArena andDaggerfall feel of a fantasy world that felt more refined and welcoming. But in that, we sacrificed some of what madeMorrowind special: the wonder of discovery."[16] He said Bethesda's philosophy forThe Elder Scrolls games was to allow people to "live another life, in another world".[17]
In 2012, Howard also said he was favorable tomodding in video games, claiming he did not understand why many developers do not allow it.[18] In 2016, after the release ofFallout 4, Howard admitted that he was well aware of the criticisms received by the game, especially with regards to thedialogue system, saying: "The way we did some dialogue stuff [inFallout 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."[19]
.jpg)
Howard has spoken at industry events and conferences. In 2009, he spoke to developers at theD.I.C.E. Summit, sharing his rules of game development.[20] He returned as a keynote speaker at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit.[21] He said developers should ignore demographics andinstalled 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".[22]
Howard's work has often received attention by the generalist media and press; his games have been featured inNewsweek,[23]CNN,[24]USA Today,[25] andThe Today Show.[26] The high popularity of the games Howard has directed and produced has turned him, and some of his quotes, intoInternet memes.
Howard was the 16th recipient of aGame Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award.[27] The magazineGamePro named him among the "Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming over the Last 20 Years".[27] Howard also received theD.I.C.E. Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction" in2012 and2016.[27] In 2014, he was awarded the Lara of Honor, a lifetime achievement award from Germany.[27] In 2013,IGN listed Howard 70th in a ranking of "The Top 100 Game Creators of All Time".[28] He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2017.[27] In 2020, Howard received the 2020 Develop Star award for "outstanding achievements and contribution to the industry".[29]
During an appearance onLex Fridman's podcast, Howard stated that he considersTetris to be the greatest game ever created. He also stated thatUltima VII: The Black Gate is one of his personal favorites, and it had a large influence on the games he has developed.[30]
Howard married Kimberly Yaissle on July 8, 1995, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church inAllentown, Pennsylvania.[1] He has two sons.[31]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2 | Producer[35] |
| 1994 | The Elder Scrolls: Arena | CD-ROM version tester[35] |
| 2010 | Fallout: New Vegas | Advisor/Special Thanks |
| 2014 | The Elder Scrolls Online | Advisor/Special Thanks |
The monitor is displaying the original game credits
| The Elder Scrolls | |
|---|---|
| IHRA Drag Racing | |
| Fallout | |
| Other games | |
| People | |
| Technology | |
| Related | |
| Video games |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Television series |
| ||||||||
| Other media | |||||||||
| Unofficial content |
| ||||||||
| Universe |
| ||||||||
| People | |||||||||
| Companies | |||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
