You can still visit the Bethesda website from 1995

With Starfield mere months away, and the future of Bethesda also looking bright with the launch of Arkane’s Redfall, a dusty artefact from the internet’s distant past provides a well-timed insight into the Skyrim, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls Online creator’s history. From Morrowind to Oblivion, Fallout 3 to Starfield, the house of Howard is responsible for some of the greatest RPG games to ever grace our PCs, and now you can take a short trip into Bethesda’s golden years courtesy of the 1995 version of the company’s website, which is still partially accessible.

Founded in 1986, Bethesda’s first ever game was Gridiron, an American football sim for the Amiga. Fast forward nine years, just after the launch of Elder Scrolls Arena, and the company’s website is a loving tribute to everything RPG – one you can still go and visit.

Styled like a text-adventure game, the site’s landing page greets you with a warning: “This fair domain of Bethesda be still under construction. Many sites be represented by their blueprints. Continue with caution and a watchful eye.” Every page is then named after the kinds of places you’d visit in a classic RPG. The homepage is the ‘main castle’ (“before you stands the majestic Castle of Bethesda”) while the jobs page is the ‘billboard’ in the ‘tavern.’

Personally, I like the ‘archives,’ where you can still access Bethesda’s press releases from 1995. Elder Scrolls Arena has apparently been nominated at the Premier Awards, and the studio has recently been joined by the creator of Dungeons and Dragons campaign Ravenloft. There’s also something about E3 and this game they’re calling ‘Daggerfall.’ Sounds interesting, I guess…

Located by Redditor ‘YourOwnSide,’ the Bethesda website is accessible thanks to some deep dives from the Wayback Machine. You can take the time-travel tour yourself right here.

Alternatively, book the Starfield release date and find out everything we know about the upcoming Bethesda opus. You might also want to try some of the best games like Starfield, to keep you busy in the meantime, or perhaps the best games like Skyrim or best games like Fallout – it’s hard to overstate Bethesda’s influence.