Skip to main content

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Starfield lead quest designer joins other ex-Bethesda developers at Wyrdsong studio

Will Shen also worked on Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout: 76.

Wyrdsong concept art showing a person looking at a desolate and gloomy landscape. What looks like huge pillars of rock jut out from the ground, and a derelict building stands in the distance. Shattered stained glass windows cast the only colour in the art onto the ground in front of the figure.
Image credit: Something Wicked Games
Liv Ngan avatar
News by Liv Ngan Contributor
Published on
15 comments

One of Bethesda's senior developers, Will Shen, who served as the lead quest designer on Starfield, has joined studio Something Wicked Games, which was co-founded by former Bethesda project lead Jeff Gardiner.

Gardiner co-founded Something Wicked Games last year with Obsidian veteran Charles Staples, who was the design lead for The Outer Worlds.

In the studio's press release, Shen's role at Something Wicked Games was revealed as a lead content designer for the studio's debut RPG, Wyrdsong, alongside former Respawn, Obsidian, and BioWare developers.

Our latest look at Starfield gameplay footage.Watch on YouTube

"I'll be working alongside an incredible group of roleplaying game developers," Shen said in his announcement of his move on X (formerly Twitter), "and it's amazing to think we have veterans from Bethesda, Obsidian, and BioWare all on one team".

Shen's other credits at Bethesda include quest designer and writer for Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Fallout: 76, and lead designer for the Fallout 4 DLC Far Harbor. "Shen brings a talent for crafting engaging, exciting storylines that hook into and stay with players," Something Wicked Games said.

The studio describes Wyrdsong as a "preternatural RPG" set in a fictionalised, mediaeval version of Portugal. Ed spoke to Gardiner earlier this year at Gamescom, where he spoke about the success of Baldur's Gate 3 and the type of RPG the studio hopes to create.

Read this next