William "Will" Shen is a developer who worked at Bethesda Game Studios on Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter as a quest designer and writer.
Career[]
Work on the Fallout series[]
Shen was an intern at Bethesda while working on Fallout 3, credited as an additional quest designer and writer. Shen wrote dialogue for characters in Big Town,[1] as well as the Republic of Dave, the latter of which he co-wrote with another intern.[2] Although he did not expect a job at Bethesda after his internship, Shen eventually came on board as a full-time designer by 2009. He provided additional design on Fallout Shelter in an uncredited role.[3]
For Fallout 4, Shen helped script out the game's opening sequences[3] and fleshed out the character of Nick Valentine alongside Liam Collins, based on a concept by Emil Pagliarulo.[4] Shen was also the lead designer on the add-on Far Harbor, during which he led and managed the design team for the add-on.[1][3]
For Fallout 76, Shen spearheaded the addition of the new, dynamic player dialogue system as humans returned with the Wastelanders update.[3] He also contributed to the writing of the Vault 76 overseer and her holotape logs, alongside Emil Pagliarulo.[5][6]
Other work[]
Shen's other credits include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, on which he also served as a quest designer. Shen was the lead quest designer on Bethesda's Starfield. He was a senior designer at Bethesda Game Studios until his departure in October 2023. Shen is a lead content designer on Wyrdsong at Something Wicked Games, a studio co-founded by former Bethesda producer Jeff Gardiner and Obsidian Entertainment developer Charles Staples.[7]
Employment history[]
| From | To | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2008 | Bethesda Game Studios | Quest Design Intern |
| May 2009 | October 2023 | Bethesda Game Studios | Senior Designer |
| October 2023 | Present | Something Wicked Games | Lead Content Designer |
Credits[]
Fallout series[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Fallout 3 | Additional Quest Designer & Writer |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Quest Designer & Writer |
| 2016 | Far Harbor | Lead Designer |
| 2018 | Fallout 76 | Quest Designer & Writer |
Other work[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Quest Designer |
| 2012 | Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning | Special Thanks |
| 2023 | Starfield | Lead Quest Designer |
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Meet Will Shen - Lead Quest Designer on Starfield at Bethesda Game Studios (Bethesda.net - December 15, 2022)
- Writing the Worlds of Bethesda (Fallout For Hope - May 14, 2023)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Meet Will Shen - Lead Quest Designer on Starfield at Bethesda Game Studios
- ↑ Writing the Worlds of Bethesda (reference starts at 31:26):
Will Shen: "But yeah, I worked on, what was it? It was Big Town and the Republic of Dave... there was actually two of us in an internship that, uh, tag-teamed on the Republic of Dave together." - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Will Shen's LinkedIn portfolio
- ↑ Emil Pagliarulo on Twitter: "Thank you, Mitch! :) I created Nick, his background etc., and he was fleshed out by designers Will Shen and Liam Collins."
- ↑ Writing the Worlds of Bethesda (reference starts at 56:13):
William Shen: "Emil and I worked on the overseer's notes together, cause we realized, 'Oh, we kinda need a character that's leading you through everything that's happening in the world and giving you a sense of purpose.' Because for a while, it was just like, 'Hey, the Vault's opened. And get out there.' And then we needed a through line. So the character of the overseer actually came really late." - ↑ Writing the Worlds of Bethesda (reference starts at 57:08):
William Shen: "Well, y'know, during the Wastelanders update, we actually brought the overseer back and we actually made her a character you can interact with. So that was a lot of fun. It was great to like, also come back to her story and try to have the conclusion for it. Like, you can finally give her all the tapes, right? Like, that was a big thing."
Kenneth Vigue: "I was so glad. I was getting OCD with them in my..."
William Shen: "I was like... 'cause I had an argument about it, I was like, 'No, they're quest objects, we should just hold onto them...' They're like, 'Will, we want to get rid of these tapes. We don't want the tapes anymore. Let me turn in the tapes.' I was like, 'Okay, fine, we'll change the tapes! So, get rid of the tapes, it's fine.'" - ↑ Something Wicked Games snaps up former Starfield lead quest designer Will Shen