Todd Howard

We all have bad things that happen in our lives, and a lot of us wonder how we can go back to before the event, whatever it is. 'Fallout 4' is about realising that your life has a new normal. We want to put you in the shoes of someone who knows what life was like before this.

Fallout 76' is a very different 'Fallout' game. We're very aware of that. We think a lot of people will like it, because we like it. But a lot of people probably won't. We need to balance that. This is an idea we have, and there's a lot of old 'Fallout' stuff in it, but it's a very new experience.

Your plan is not as important as your culture. That means you will run into problems that will disrupt your plan and schedule, and how you deal with that depends on the culture you have created within your team.

We do not focus test our games and never had. People ask why we don't, and I say, 'I have so many opinions in this studio, I don't need anymore!' We really debate everything - and it's a good debate. That's why the games turn out well: it's not me - it's not this guy - it's the collective. Together, we figure out what we want.

Epic science fiction game, that's always been on my mind. Post-apocalyptic, 'Fallout,' was our first choice. Sci-fi was our second at the time, when we got the 'Fallout' license. We were going to do our own post-apocalyptic universe if we didn't get 'Fallout.'

What's funny is that by the time everyone plays the game - you know, we finish it, and then it takes a long time to make copies and ship it and get on the shelves - we probably haven't worked on it for a month, two months. So, we've already taken our break, and then we're on to the next thing.

Particularly with our games, people get involved with the characters and the world. They're going to take their time with it pretty seriously, so we need to take it even more seriously to make it good.

Fallout 76' and 'Blades' get a lot of my time right now. I'm in more meetings as it's gotten bigger.

A lot of times, when someone's going to pick up a game, it can be a bit daunting, like if they haven't played a roleplaying game, or they haven't played things in the series. We spent a lot of time on flow. How it feels to move through the world. How the game rewards you depending on which way you turn.

There are more players on 'Fallout Shelter' than all of my games combined. That's a little sobering at times. It's not a good or bad thing.

Batman. I like the idea that if I had enough money, time, and vengeance, I could become him.

Time makes a bigger difference: just making a game, shipping it, looking at what you did, how you did it, what you did well, what you didn't do well, and doing better.