Slime Rancher was Inspired by a Bug in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Slime Rancher recently released on Xbox One as a free Games with Gold title and fans have constantly expressed how much fun they are having with it. Players take control of Beatrix LeBeau who wrangles up various slimes on Far, Far Range. It seems like a wacky idea, and as it turns out, the game was inspired by a glitch in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Nick Popovich, Co-founder and CEO of Slime Rancher developer Monomi Park, participated in an AMA on the Xbox One subreddit where he revealed this interesting tidbit of information.

“The inspiration was a bug in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion that allowed you to shoot hundreds of melons out of a bow into the environment and have guards and townsfolks falling over them,” Popovich said. “I thought it was funny and it became the kernal of an idea for SR.”

It’s amazing how one small mistake—like a random bug in a game—could form the idea behind a full-fledged project. Obviously there are innumerable differences between Oblivion and Slime Rancher, but Monomi Park impressively took that one aspect and nurtured it into its own unique title.

As for what’s coming next from Slime Rancher, Popovich directed players to their roadmap, revealing future updates and plans to add more slimes, new game modes, drones, and more.