After Delay, Bethesda’s Anticipated ‘Starfield’ RPG Finally Gets a Release Date
Bethesda needs more time to make sure Starfield comes out at just the right level of buggy
Bethesda Softworks is the company most known for publishing the modern Fallout game, Doom, Wolfenstein, and the Elder Scrolls series. E3 2018 saw Bethesda reveal a brand new IP for the first time in 25 years exciting many of their fans. The IP would be called Starfield and little was known about it during the announcement except that it could be like Skyrim in space. Bethesda Softworks was officially acquired by Microsoft in 2021 before much else was shown of the game. This was a very big deal at the time since this meant every one of their game franchises now could become Xbox exclusives, including the newest stuff announced. PlayStation fans’ fears were confirmed once it was announced Starfield would be an Xbox and PC exclusive.
Since the acquisition, Bethesda has been hard at work and showed off more of the game at E3 2021. There they proclaimed it would release on November 11, 2022. Unfortunately, the game was delayed by the developers with them saying the release should be within the “first half of 2023.” The reason cited for the delay by Microsoft at the time was “…Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) have incredible ambitions for their games, and we want to ensure that you receive the best, most polished versions of them.” This makes sense though because Bethesda games are notoriously buggy during the launch month and many gamers sometimes wait a bit before buying them first. Since the delay, the info on the game has skyrocketed with a 15-minute gameplay video that explained more of what the game will be like shown last year. The game still seemed to be on track for an early 2023 release date. Bethesda finally has news on the release and it is both bad and good news.
Delay is the name of the game
Bethesda released a brand new announcement video to announce the game would be releasing in 2023 still. The only thing is it will be released in the second half of 2023 on September 6th. Hopefully, this delay will give them time to polish off the bugs and make the game run as smoothly as possible. Fallout 76 was the last big release Bethesda developed in-house and it definitely needed more time. The announcement itself shows off the game in the beginning and then turns to legendary game director Todd Howard who explains how excited the developers are for the game to release as well as hinting just how much there will be in the game.
“We have poured ourselves into this game, and even I’m surprised how much we can pour. It is large.”
Howard then went on to explain the game will be getting its very own Starfield Direct on June 11th to talk more about the development and what to expect from the game upon release. This is very exciting since Xbox also announced that the same day, they will be doing an Xbox Games Showcase the same day. This showcase is what they are doing instead of E3 this year. Phil Spencer did an interview with Xbox On promising some big reveals at the event making Starfield just the tip of the iceberg that day.
“Where no man has gone before”
Space RPGs are always a fantastic time because there is just so much potential when it comes to sci-fi. The Elder Scrolls series has done a great job with fantasy sci-fi with many of its games getting re-releases all the time, especially Skyrim. The footage shown so far by Microsoft and Bethesda paints a picture of space adventure that will be keeping anyone occupied for hours. Space exploration, dialogue and persuasion options with NPCs, crafting things, and customizing your starship. We do not know much about the story but that was never important to Bethesda fans. Many people having never actually beaten the story of many Bethesda game because they get side track so easily. They tend to make up their own story as they go on and it makes for a very fun time. If the game is even half as accessible as Skyrim, it is going to do just fine.
Starfield will release on Xbox Series X/S and PC September 6th, 2023.
“A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
