Julian LeFay, one of the original creators of The Elder Scrolls, has died at 59. OnceLost Games, the studio he co-founded, confirmed the news and said he worked on The Wayward Realms until shortly before his death.
LeFay joined Bethesda in the early ’90s. He was lead developer on Arena, director and designer on Daggerfall, and contributed to Battlespire and Morrowind. He left Bethesda in 1998.
In 2019, he returned to game development with OnceLost Games, teaming up with Ted Peterson and Vijay Lakshman to build The Wayward Realms. Inspired by Daggerfall, the game promises a huge, procedural open world. The project raised over $800,000 on Kickstarter, and its first teaser trailer dropped in 2021.
Wayward Realms word continues without him
Despite battling cancer, LeFay stayed involved in development. The team says his systems, design work, and direction are all documented and form the foundation of the project.
“We’re not just continuing. We’re finishing what Julian started.”
The studio says Ted Peterson, Eric Heberling, and the full team remain on board. Development will follow LeFay’s original plans, with regular updates promised.
The Wayward Realms is still in development. You can wishlist it now on Steam.
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