Draft:Michael Kirkbride
{{AfC submission|||ts=20250504234934|u=BOZ|ns=118}}
{{Short description|Video-Game Writer & Artist}}
{{Draft topics|internet-culture|video-games}}
{{AfC topic|blp}}
Michael Kirkbride is a writer, artist, and game-designer who worked for most importantly, Bethesda Softworks but also other companies. Kirkbride has worked on numerous games in The Elder Scrolls game series, most prominently The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.Michael Kirkbrides name appears at 0:56 in this clip of Morrowind's Credits, under the section Concept Art, and reappears again under Additional Quest and Writing Design, also visible in the same time stamp (his name is the 3rd one down). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyuAbbERYks Recorded and published by The Tenth Art on September 10th 2020, another video, by Simon S, published on September 9th of 2009, also shows Kirkbride's name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wBJdOUP4i0 , for those who own a copy of Morrowind and wish to see for themselves the .bik file for the credits is located in the Videos section of the game's Data Files. This article by Polygon also lists him as the "Concept Artist and Writer" of Morrowind under his entry, https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda and RedguardKirkbride's name appears twice in the first cutscene (intro credits) shown in this video of the all of the game's cutscenes published by Ja'keel Jyba on March 2nd 2024. His is the 5th name to appear, showing under 'World Art' directly at the top of the list(1:07), and then appears again at the timestamp 1:37, under the Design and Writing segment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbPIazHjXrk. Kirkbride's work is notable as he established a large chunk of the lore of the Elder Scrolls. Especially in early days, as he provided numerous books, articles, and pieces of lore for Morrowind. Kirkbride's work on "The Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition" is also important as it became a large part of lore for the different regions of Tamriel.
Kirkbride has also worked on the tabletop role-playing games Elric! and Fading Suns.
Career
In the year 2000, Michael Kirkbride was working as a background artist for Bethesda Softworks, of which he said "I'm building playgrounds for the characters [...] We draw and construct environments to the design team's specifications. Background artists work hand in hand with the level designer to create environments that fit the game."{{cite magazine |last=Crosby |first=Olivia |date=2000-06-22 |title=Working so others can play: Jobs in video game development. |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Working+so+others+can+play%3A+Jobs+in+video+game+development.-a063257098 |magazine=Occupational Outlook Quarterly |via=The Free Library |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504075307/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Working+so+others+can+play%3A+Jobs+in+video+game+development.-a063257098 |archivedate=2025-05-04 }}
Kirkbride worked on the The Elder Scrolls series for Bethesda, saying that on The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall "My only real task was taking scans of famous paintings and Penthouse pinups and altering them enough so that we wouldn't get sued for using them as tapestries [...] To this day, I think altering a i4x64 pixel Girl with a Pearl Earring into an Argonian princess is a highlight of my career. I also drew the ire of Julian LeFey [project leader on Daggerfall] by putting clothes on all the pinup girls. He [...] wanted live-action cutscenes of people having intercourse to play whenever you got married or hired a prostitute."{{cite magazine |last=Edwards |first=Matt |date=August 2014 |title=A History of the Elder Scrolls: This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series. To celebrate two decades' worth of open worlds and fantasy lore, Matt Edwards speaks to some of the key development staff that helped turn the series into a role-playing phenomenon |url=https://archive.org/details/retro-gamer-uk-books/Retro%20Gamer%20-%20The%20Ultimate%20RPG%20Handbook%203rd%20Ed%20%282024%29/page/88/ |magazine=Retro Gamer |pages=66–73 |id={{ProQuest|2706025882}} |accessdate=2025-05-04 }} Kirbride says that of the next two games in the Elder Scrolls series, "I will always be partial to Morrowind" but that "One day Oblivion will be written off as a big, Lord Of The Rings obsessed, poison-induced fever dream of Uriel VII during the final moments of his life."
Kirkbride worked as the concept artist on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, developing large portions of the Morrowind world and writing books about the game and setting.{{cite news |last=Kane |first=Alex |date=2019-03-27 |title=Morrowind: An oral history: 'Here's a world. Go play it how you wanna play it' |url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda |website=Polygon |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504052337/https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda |archivedate=2025-05-04 }}{{cite news |last=Hughes |first=William |date=2019-03-29 |title=How Bethesda made its brilliant, broken Morrowind—secret blowjob jokes and all |url=https://www.avclub.com/how-bethesda-made-its-brilliant-broken-morrowind-secre-1833655640 |newspaper=The A.V. Club |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121061903/https://www.avclub.com/how-bethesda-made-its-brilliant-broken-morrowind-secre-1833655640 |archivedate=2025-01-21 }} Ken Rolston suggested that the tabletop RPG RuneQuest was an inspirational source for Kirkbride and the other creators as they worked on Morrowind.{{cite news |last=Gailloreto |first=Coleman |date=2021-03-17 |title=Tabletop RPGs That Shaped The Elder Scrolls Franchise |url=https://screenrant.com/tabletop-rpg-games-inspired-elder-scrolls-franchise-bethesda/ |website=Screen Rant |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504080819/https://screenrant.com/tabletop-rpg-games-inspired-elder-scrolls-franchise-bethesda/ |archivedate=2025-05-04 }} Kirkbride has written a significant amount of official and unofficial lore for Elder Scrolls.{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Charlie |date=2021-07-29 |title=The Lore Behind Skyrim's Giants Explained |url=https://gamerant.com/elder-scrolls-skyrim-giants-lore/ |website=Game Rant |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504081157/https://gamerant.com/elder-scrolls-skyrim-giants-lore/ |archivedate=2025-05-04 }} Kirkbride was also the main writer for Morrowind.{{cite news |last=Svn |first=Tiago |date=2022-07-31 |title=Mythbusted: Morrowind's Creators Didn't Make It On Shrooms |url=https://www.cracked.com/article_34819_mythbusted-morrowinds-creators-didnt-make-it-on-shrooms.html |website=Cracked.com |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504080012/https://www.cracked.com/article_34819_mythbusted-morrowinds-creators-didnt-make-it-on-shrooms.html |archivedate=2025-05-04 }} Elder Scrolls III was originally going to be set in the home of the High Elves known as the Summerset Isles, but Kirkbride was one of the team members who instead pushed for the game to be set on the volcanic island of Vvardenfell which made the game set in Morrowind.{{cite news |last=Kane |first=Alex James |date=2023-09-08 |title=From Elder Scrolls to Starfield: How Bethesda Defined the Role-Playing Game |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/from-elder-scrolls-to-starfield-how-bethesda-defined-the-role-playing-game |website=IGN |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504075147/https://www.ign.com/articles/from-elder-scrolls-to-starfield-how-bethesda-defined-the-role-playing-game |archivedate=2025-05-04 }} Kirkbride wanted to fill the world with unusual monsters and drew two versions of each monster in case the stranger version was rejected.{{cite magazine |last=Wolens |first=Joshua |date=2023-10-25 |title=Skyrim's retired lead designer says anything other than the 'Bethesda usual' has to be approved by Todd Howard: 'He doesn't believe it's true, but unfortunately it's true' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrims-retired-lead-designer-says-anything-other-than-the-bethesda-usual-has-to-be-approved-by-todd-howard-he-doesnt-believe-its-true-but-unfortunately-its-true/ |magazine=PC Gamer |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504080143/https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrims-retired-lead-designer-says-anything-other-than-the-bethesda-usual-has-to-be-approved-by-todd-howard-he-doesnt-believe-its-true-but-unfortunately-its-true/ |archivedate=2025-05-04 }}
Kirkbride has communicated with the team members developing Skywind, assisting lore masters in assuring that the game fits with the established Elder Scrolls universe.{{cite magazine |last=Bals |first=Edward |date=2016-06-09 |title=How Skywind is recreating a modern classic |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/how-skywind-is-recreating-a-modern-classic/ |magazine=PC Gamer |id={{ProQuest|2702071543}} |accessdate=2025-05-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504051406/https://www.pcgamer.com/how-skywind-is-recreating-a-modern-classic/ |archivedate=2025-05-04 }}