Deathloop is bringing Bethesda back in fighting form

This story about the developer publisher relationship, boiled down, in 1:41 minutes.

What's the fuss?

A recently released time-bending action game has received virtually universal acclaim, adding another notch of success to a video game publisher's inconsistent belt.

The situation

An amnesic man remains trapped in an endless time loop, doomed to repeat the same date for eternity, unless he can can kill the people behind it and solve the mystery.

Such is the premise of the game Deathloop, developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.
The game is a first-person action shooter touted as a "murder puzzle where you play as an assassin trapped in a time loop".
Deathloop is designed for the player to learn from their mistakes and to slowly build the mastery required to beat the game in Groundhog Day-like fashion.

So far, the game has received critical acclaim, earning numerous perfect scores from internationally recognized game reviewers.

Arkane Studios has benefited greatly from creative freedom and the ability to choose the projects that they want to make, likely fueling the passion that has made this game a critical hit.

Boiling it down

The relationship between game developer and publisher can sometimes be contentious.

The developer is responsible for actually creating and producing the game, while the publisher is responsible for providing funding and marketing.
Because it's the publisher's money, they can control the creative process which can potentially conflict with the developer.

What's unique about Bethesda is that they operate both as a developer and a publisher, thus having an understanding of both sides of the coin.

Despite this, Bethesda has released some mediocre games over the last couple of years.
Deathloop is a much-needed win for the company in which its success is derived from a mutual understanding of allowing creative freedom.

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