Bethesda’s Lead Producer Explains How the Zelda-Skyrim Collaboration Came About
Posted on January 02 2018 by Rod Lloyd
Bethesda’s hit open-world game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released on Nintendo Switch in November of last year. In addition to giving Nintendo fans the chance to finally experience the epic adventure of the Dovahkiin, this version of Skyrim also included some loving nods to The Legend of Zelda, as players can unlock the Master Sword, the Hylian Shield, and Breath of the Wild‘s Champion’s Tunic in the game. In an interview with Best Buy, lead producer at Bethesda Game Studios Andrew Scharf shared the story behind this collaboration and explained how Zelda items made it into Skyrim.
Paul Hunter of Best Buy recently sat down with Scharf to discuss Skyrim on the Switch, touching on the inclusion of Zelda items in the game:
“Hunter: The addition of items from The Legend of Zelda, like the Master Sword, Hylian Shield, and Champion’s Tunic is pretty exciting. How did this idea come about and are there any other items in-game that may surprise us?
Scharf: It was early on in the project, shortly after we started developing on the Switch hardware and Todd [Howard] brought the idea up to Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda development team. They loved the idea and offered to work with us to make sure that our depiction of Link’s Champion’s Tunic, Hylian Shield, and of course the Master Sword held true to their design, while being usable weapons/armor in Skyrim.
Hunter: I know Skyrim on Switch is compatible with The Legend of Zelda series amiibo, and they have a daily random chance to unlock the Zelda gear. Are any other amiibo compatible with Skyrim, and if yes, what perks do they provide?
Scharf: Basically, once a day (every 24 hours in real time, not game time) you can use a Zelda amiibo to make a Zelda themed chest appear with a 20% chance to discover a Zelda themed item, or you can use any other type of amiibo to make a Skyrim themed chest appear with various types of loot.”
It sounds like the folks at Nintendo were excited to see the Zelda series represented in the world of Elder Scrolls.
What did you think of this collaboration? Would you like to see Zelda and Elder Scrolls cross paths in the future? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Best Buy
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
