I'd like to preface this article by saying I enjoy Bethesda games and all of this comes from a place of love and concern. I genuinely want to see Bethesda grow, but its current strategies are ruining some of the best things about its games.

Over the last few years, Bethesda has started a trend where it damages some of the best things about its games in an effort to make more money. We've seen this with Fallout 4's and Skyrim: Special Edition's Creation Club implementation on PC, and more recently with the rather messy online-only Fallout 76. The company seems hellbent on trying risky, experimental money-making schemes that end up compromising its core fanbase in the process. In short, Bethesda's moves feel like cash-grabs rather than well thought out and executed plans, and it's harming its brand, its IPs, and the community.

First we'll start with Fallout 4 and the disaster that is Creation Club. To me, Fallout 4 on PC is one of the best games I've played simply because of its mod support. Mods essentially make you into a god of sorts: using other player-created content, you can morph your experience as you see fit and play the game you want to play. Mods massively (have and do) extend the life of any Bethesda game, adding hundreds of hours of extra playtime to the experience, and genuinely bring a community together. But there's just one problem with mods: Bethesda doesn't make any long-term revenue from them outside of sales.