10 Times Games Accidentally Lost All Of Your Progress

10. Esbern Wall Bug - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim upholds Bethesda’s tradition of buggy design by being filled with all sorts of programming issues.

However, whereas most of them are goofy things like bad AI or space-launching giants, there is only one of them that can cost you your progress (or at least it’s the most well-known bug of this kind).

The Esbern Wall Bug is a frequently occurring issue where the Blades' lore master can softlock you by never finishing his dialogue.

The bug happens during the Alduin’s Wall questline, and depending on whether you’re a "multiple save files" or "one save to rule them all" kind of person, it can possibly ruin your entire playthrough.

There is no way of knowing if the bug has occurred in your game unless Esbern stops talking and gives you a prompt to continue the main quest. For this reason, it’s good to have a backup save file before entering the chamber with the Wall, as if you rely on autosaves only, Esbern’s lack of cooperation might permanently ruin your save and force you to start a new run.

Considering how late you get to Alduin’s Wall, the latter option might as well make you quit the game entirely.