Bethesda veteran and 'father of the Elder Scrolls' Julian LeFay dies, aged 59

Bethesda veteran Julian LeFay, sometimes referred to as the ‘father of Elder Scrolls’ thanks to his pioneering work on the legendary fantasy RPG series, has died aged 59.

The news follows developer OnceLost Games’ announcement last week that LeFay, who had previously been diagnosed with cancer, would be stepping back from game development to spend his “remaining time with his family and loved ones”.

LeFay joined Bethesda shortly after its founding in 1987, and oversaw the likes of The Elder Scrolls: Arena and its 1996 sequel Daggerfall in his role as chief engineer. He departed the company in 1998, briefly returning for The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, then pursued various other ventures before setting up OnceLost Games with fellow Elder Scrolls veterans Ted Peterson and Vijay Lakshman in 2019. Since then, the studio has been working on The Wayward Realms, an open-world RPG announced in 2021.

LeFay’s departure from The Wayward Realms project was announced last week in a video addressed to fans, where it was revealed he’d been “fighting a battle with cancer for the last several years” and didn’t “have very much time left”. Now, OnceLost has confirmed LeFay’s death in a message shared on social media.