Ted Peterson is a writer and video game designer best known for his work on The Elder Scrolls series. He co-founded the independent game studio OnceLost Games with Julian LeFay and Vijay Lakshman in 2019.
Career
Peterson joined Bethesda Softworks as a junior writer in the early 1990s after responding to an advertisement in The Washington Post.[1] His first project at Bethesda was writing for The Terminator 2029, followed by The Terminator: Rampage.[2] During his time at Bethesda, he worked as a designer and writer on The Elder Scrolls: Arena and lead designer on The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.[3] He left the company in 1996,[4] just as Daggerfall was completed. After leaving Bethesda, Peterson joined Activision and worked as a writer on Heavy Gear II, also performing freelance work for Bethesda on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.[3] As a writer for Bethesda, Peterson wrote almost 200,000 words of prose within in-game books in The Elder Scrolls.[5]
In 2019, Peterson co-founded the independent game studio OnceLost Games alongside former Bethesda developers Julian LeFay and Vijay Lakshman.[7] The studio is developing The Wayward Realms, described as a "spiritual successor to Daggerfall", funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign.[8]
Beistad, L. B. (17 September 2024). "Wayward Realms' Approach to Stealth Should be a Trailblazer For Fantasy RPGs". Game Rant. Canada: Valnet. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
[Indigo Gaming] (2 October 2018). Ted Peterson Interview: Designer & Writer on Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind & Oblivion(Video). Retrieved 20 July 2025– via YouTube.
Kane, Alex James (27 September 2019). "'Daggerfall' Designer Ted Peterson On His New RPG Studio, OnceLost Games". Forbes. United States. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
Peterson, Ted (2001). "Ted Peterson Interview". Morrowind Italia. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
