nJoystic Uncovers Skyrim’s Real ‘Hearthfire’ Expansion Dev Diary

Digging deeper to find the truth behind Bethesda’s second DLC pack slated for Skyrim

Bethesda has released the sixth installment in their Skyrim developer’s diary series, this time focusing on the creating of the Hearthfire expansion plans. While their version of the events are entertaining, they’re not the true story.

Working via an unnamed and not made-up source within the development team, nJoystic’s Steve Gibson has uncovered the diary’s hidden pages — entries that Bethesda would prefer to keep secret. Check them out:

The Hearthfire 360 Team

“The Skyrim-Mod “Game Jam” spawned a lot of great ideas. Hearthfire came from one of those. We really loved the idea of giving the player the ability to create their very own home, with customization, decoration, and even the ability to adopt children and start a family.

We’d finished the ‘Dawnguard’ DLC months ago since the 360 version was due so much earlier than the other teams’ stuff, and so we got to work on this right away. It really came together great. I think the players will really enjoy this. On the Xbox 360, anyway.”

The Hearthfire PC Team

“Yeah, ‘Hearthfire’ seemed like a really cool idea. And since the PC modders have already added it, we had the advantage of knowing it would be a really cool idea. Then we waited for those jerks on the 360 team to do all the coding, and it was fairly easy to port the whole thing over. Now that we’re finished, we’re just surfing through the other Skyrim user mods looking for the next thing to put out. These PC gamers are amazing!”

The Hearthfire PS3 Team

“I don’t know why they hired me! My resume said I had experience on a ‘weigh station’! I have no idea what the hell this ‘Playstation 3′ is but they just won’t listen to me! So like, I’m supposed to have this ‘Dawnguard’ thing done — is that like, laundry detergent? Hell if I know. And now I’m falling behind on a ‘Hearthfire’ expansion? Home renovation? What the hell does this company even do? I’m so lost! But at least they keep paying me. Maybe I should shut up and keep hammering away at this keyboard…”

So there you have it! The Bethesda Dev Diary’s lost pages of Hearthfire. I think you’ll agree that this provides an interesting, if not surprising, insight into the game-development process. And again, we have an unnamed source that isn’t fake, and did not not make this all up.

The Hearthfire expansion is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 on Sept 4, 2012. It will likely arrive on PC a month later. And PS3? Don’t hold your breath.

Posted in Op Ed by Steve R Gibson on August 31, 2012