Former Skyrim Dev Reveals How One Quest Was Almost Much Different

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Kurt Kuhlmann, a key designer on Skyrim and former lore expert for The Elder Scrolls series, has shared that the game’s Civil War storyline was originally quite different. He explained that this alternate version was significantly developed before being cut from the final game.

A key part of what makes Skyrim special is its many different questlines. Players can join and advance through organizations like the Companions, the Dark Brotherhood, the College of Winterhold, and the Thieves Guild, alongside the main story. While the Civil War questline exists, it’s often overlooked by players. Though it does change the game world, many don’t consider it a highlight, and it could have been much more engaging if some of its originally planned content had been included.

Skyrim’s Civil War Questline Was Almost ‘Much More Dynamic’

In an interview with PC Gamer, Skyrim co-lead designer Kurt Kuhlmann revealed that the game’s Civil War questline was originally planned to be much more expansive. The idea was to track players’ actions, like killing Imperial soldiers, and use that information to dynamically shift the balance of power between the Empire and the Stormcloaks within each region. If players weakened the Empire enough through their actions, the Stormcloaks would eventually attack the capital city. This would have made the game world feel even more reactive to player choices than it currently does, giving the impression that players truly impacted the state of the land. Kuhlmann explained that the feature was significantly developed before being removed from the final game.

According to Kuhlmann, the existing Battle of Whiterun demonstrated the original vision for the unfinished Civil War content in Skyrim. They explain that the plan involved coordinated attacks on all major cities throughout the holds of Skyrim, and they believe they could have successfully implemented this more expansive conflict.

Ultimately, the content was removed from the game because it caused performance issues. According to Kuhlmann, it was very difficult to get it running smoothly and required a lot of extra work. The team realized they couldn’t deliver a high-quality experience with a stable frame rate across all areas of the game, especially on the Xbox 360. Considering Skyrim has been re-released many times since its original launch near the end of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360’s lifespan, it makes sense that a complex feature like a dynamic Civil War questline wasn’t possible at the time.

I was really interested to hear what Kuhlmann had to say in the interview. He explained that he left Bethesda before they finished The Elder Scrolls 6 because as the company got bigger, it became harder for everyone to communicate effectively with so many layers of management. Apparently, they’re actually making The Elder Scrolls 6 right now, but still haven’t given us a release date, which is so frustrating! The last thing we officially saw was that teaser trailer from 2018, and a lot of fans, myself included, think it was shown way too early.

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2026-01-18 20:36