It’s been a long time coming, and Bethesda’s Starfield is finally in the home stretch. The epic sci-fi RPG was slated for a November 11, 2022 release.
Starfield release date is in the first half of 2023. No solid release date has been announced yet. The game is scheduled to release on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
During the Microsoft showcase event, Bethesda recently showed off brand-new gameplay footage from the game. That, combined with interviews and Tweets, we have a much clearer picture of what Starfield is. We also have a confirmed window of the release for the much anticipated original Bethesda IP in a long while.
Starfield Release Date
Starfield is releasing in the first half of 2023. We don’t have the exact release date yet, but we’re sure Microsoft and Bethesda will have more information soon. The game was originally slated to be released on November 11, 2022, but Bethesda announced the delay in May 2022.
They stated that “The Teams at Arkane Austin and Bethesda Game Studios have incredible ambitions for their games, and we want to ensure that you receive the best, most polished versions of them.”
We will update the article once the official release date is announced.
Starfield Platforms
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media in 2021 a deal that also netted them Bethesda Game Studios. They are the creators of Starfield, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls. This means that the game will be Xbox Series X and Series S console exclusive. The company also announced that the game will also launch on PC. It will be available from day one on Xbox Game Pass. The Game Pass is also available on PC.
Is Starfield Cross Platform?
No, Starfield doesn’t have cross-platform support. The game is only releasing on the Xbox Series X/S consoles and PC. As there is no multiplayer, the game won’t have crossplay between Xbox and PC either.
Will Starfield Be on PlayStation?
Unfortunately, Starfield will not be on any PlayStation platform, whether it be PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5. While the game was announced way before Microsoft gained the acquisition of Bethesda, the game won’t be seeing any PlayStation release.
Bethesda’s creative director Todd Howard stated that focusing on a smaller number of platforms will make a better product. Of course, this is great news for Xbox and PC gamers, but PlayStation fans won’t be able to experience Starfield.
Starfield Pre-Orders
Starfield is available to pre-order at select retailers right now. There isn’t a set release date announced yet. The preorders are available on Gamestop in the US and Game and Base in the UK. Other retailers don’t have their pre-order pages up for Starfield.
You can currently add the game to your wishlist on Steam as well.
There are no pre-order bonuses or extras announced at the time. Bethesda games usually don’t have any of these for early players, so we won’t be surprised if they just release a single version of the game.
There is no news of any Deluxe, Special, or Collectors editions either. These editions are usually announced closer to release. We will update you if anything changes.
Will Starfield Be on Game Pass?
Starfield is one of the biggest games coming to Microsoft Game Pass, a subscription service that lets you play hundreds of games for a flat fee. The game will be available on day one on the Xbox Series X and Serie S. It is also a day one release for the PC Game Pass.
The game will probably be available to preload for the Game Pass Subscribers a couple of days before the release.
Starfield Trailers
Bethesda is usually tight-lipped about their upcoming games. However, this time around they’ve shown the game off in a few trailers. There is also a lengthy gameplay trailer so you can check out how the game looks and runs.
Starfield Reveal Trailer
While Starfield was teased at Bethesda’s E3 conference back in 2018, it wasn’t until 2021 that we saw the first reveal trailer. Launched at the Microsoft and Bethesda Games Showcase 2021, the two-minute trailer only revealed basic details. We got the first look at the atmosphere, the environment, and some slight story beats.
Starfield Gameplay Trailer
At the Microsoft and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022, the first proper gameplay trailer was shown. It is a meaty 15-minute presentation given by none other than Bethesda’s creative director Todd Howard. This is where we are gathering most of our information and there are a lot of details to go through. The Starfield gameplay trailer is one of the best ways to get yourself accustomed to the new open universe Bethesda game. It is truly a stunning spectacle.
Is Starfield Skyrim in Space?
According to Bethesda’s creative director Todd Howard, yes, Starfield is Skyrim in space. Speaking to The Washington Post, Todd Howard stated that Starfield is “like Skyrim in space,” and the game will feature a lot of different factions and different settings. He further added that “it’s like NASA meets Indiana Jones meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a group of people that are still searching for answers,”
Just like traditional Bethesda games, Starfield will be fully playable in both first and third-person views.
Where Does Starfield Take Place?
Starfield, as the name suggests, takes place in space. Bethesda has also stated that there will be more than a hundred systems and 1000 planets in the game.
All of which will be fully explorable by the player. You’ll be able to hop into your spaceship and travel to any planet you want.
To say that Starfield is Bethesda’s most ambitious project yet wouldn’t be an understatement. Traveling across the cosmos using a spaceship is bigger than riding your horse in the Elder Scrolls. Or trekking across the nuclear wasteland in Fallout.
Starfield has a Thousand Planets!
There is a lot to do in a Bethesda game, but this time around, there is even more. The game is said to have 1000 Planets. The main reason the developers had to stop after 1000 was because naming them was getting tedious.
Otherwise, the current engine and framework are more than capable of supporting any number of planets!
The Main City is Called New Atlantis!
The main city Bethesda showed off is just one of the major cities in the game. Straight off the bat, it looks bigger than anything Bethesda has ever made before.
Significant Locations
Bethesda uploaded some concept art and open commentary explaining some of the locations in Starfield. While the videos were uploaded a while ago, the locations showcased are all very interesting. Here are some summaries:
City of Neon – the City of Neon was founded by a corporation looking to fish on an aquatic planet. They found fish but the focus quickly changed to drugs when they found a fish with psychotropic properties.
As they say, drugs sell better than fish, the company quickly pivoted its priorities and made Neon a drug heaven. The drug is called Aroura and is only legal on Neon; people visit the city from all over to experience it.
Akila City – Akila is the capital of Freestar Collective and houses many different races and people. It is walled and provides refuge from Ashta, an alien predator that’s a mix between a wolf and a velociraptor. The wall sounds like a great boundary to keep between yourself and the monster hybrid.
New Atlantis – The city of New Atlantis houses the most powerful military faction in Starfield, United Colonies. The picture above shows the spaceport of the city, which is also the capital of the United Colonies. It is a true melting pot of cultures, races, and ethnicity.
What’s Starfield’s Story?
In traditional Bethesda fashion, the story is under tight wraps. However, Bethesda has given some information regarding the story. For one, we know that Starfield takes place in 2330. The biggest factions in The Settled Systems, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective, had a huge war for territory control.
The player will start the journey as a member of Constellation. Constellation is an organization that comprises space explorers that are exploring The Settled Systems. You will be able to explore the planets freely without any restrictions, where you go and what you do is totally up to you. Joining other factions or siding with one is also up to the player, adding another layer of depth to the story. This also means that you’ll be able to replay the whole story again, seeing how your choices play out.
A Silent Protagonist
Starfield is bringing back the silent protagonist all fans love. The silent protagonist allows players to roleplay without having a set personality enforced on their player character. Fallout 4 was the only Bethesda game that tried out a fully voiced protagonist, and it received a lot of backlash from the fans. This was confirmed by the official Bethesda Twitter account:
Starfield’s Combat and Gameplay
While the setting may seem like a far cry from other Bethesda games, it is, at heart, a Bethesda RPG. If you’ve played any other RPG from the development studio, you’ll know what to expect, environmental storytelling, progression systems, and a deep emphasis on exploration. You will also be making choices and seeing the consequences play out throughout the story.
Starfield will also introduce new features that were never in their games before. Flying your ship in our space is a big addition. There also seems to be a lot more emphasis on resource management, crafting, and building your settlements. We didn’t see any feature like Fallout’s VATs here, so it seems the combat plays out in real-time.
We have seen a couple of different firearms as well, so we are sure there will be weapon customizations thrown in too. Overall, the gunplay seemed responsive and fast, a big improvement for Bethesda. So in short, the combat, and gameplay will be a rewarding loop of killing enemies, gaining experience points, looting their corpses for resources and better weapons, and then repeating the whole process.
We saw multiple different creatures that were hostile to the players as well. Some are small, while some are gigantic.
Speaking of loot, we know you can loot killed enemies. However, there will also be locked cases that need to be unlocked using the new lock-picking mini-game.
Combat Seems Like Fallout 4/76
From what we’ve seen, the combat in the game looks like a polished version of traditional Bethesda Fallout combat. Hopefully, the gunplay feels better than the usual fare in the Bethesda games. The shooting mechanics in past first-person Bethesda games were lackluster, to say the least.
The VATs system saved us from going mad with the aiming. As there are no VATs in Starfield, the gunplay needs to be better than what we’ve seen so far.
Starfield Research and Crafting
Starfield is putting a lot of emphasis on research and crafting. You’ll be able to craft weapons and mods, and also able to improve your gear and spacesuit. That’s not all, there are outposts that need your input and resources for expansion as well.
You’ll be able to research projects to expand your crafting options, like adding new mods to your space rifle or making your jetpack better. The base-building feature, first introduced in Fallout 4 and then Fallout 76, is back again, and this time it seems more expansive.
You’ll need to mine for resources to build your bases and even assign NPC workers to maintain your outposts. Overall, this seems to be a meaty crafting and researching experience that will reward players who invest in it.
Starfield Ships
There are spaceships in Starfield, and, in traditional Bethesda fashion, these are also customizable. While the ships are essential for space exploration, there is also going to be space combat involved.
This means upgrading and customizing your ship according to your playstyle is necessary to keep up with the space enemies. The Starfield ship customization is an elaborate and deep experience, allowing you to modify each and every inch of your spaceship.
The modular customization system makes it easy for you to swap out features and elements of the design. This isn’t an afterthought slapped together just to check a box; Bethesda seems to be aiming high with this level of deep customization.
In a recent Bethesda Studios video, Game Director Todd Howard explained that your ship wont run out of fuel. The grav drive and fuel won’t run out because that will distract the player from what they want to do and instead hunt for more fuel. That isn’t to say the fuel doesn’t matter, fuel and grav drive will determine how far you can go at one time but it won’t run out.
Starfield Character Creation and Backgrounds
The character creation in Starfield is going to take a long time, especially if you love creating your custom characters. I’m one of those people who spend hours upon hours building their perfect Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim character, perfectly rearranging their facial features and changing the body types, only to play the whole game in first person.
The character creator in Starfield is going deeper this time around, allowing you to create your perfect persona. If you’re a fan of role-playing games, you’d be happy to know that Bethesda has several backstories to choose from. From Beast Hunter to Bouncer and from Chef to Combat Medic, there are a lot of backgrounds to pick from in Starfield. I’m keen on discovering what kind of perks and privileges certain backgrounds bring, especially during NPC interactions and missions.
So far, we know that there are 16 backstories to decide from. That is more than enough to get us started. It remains to be seen how deeply impactful backstories would be in certain story moments.
Starfield Skills and Upgrades
The skills and upgrades system seems to be lifted from both, Fallout and Skyrim in Starfield. There are 5 different categories in which skills are divided; physical, social, combat, science, and tech. You’ll earn experience points by doing missions, killing enemies, and exploring. Once you’ve earned a certain number of experience points you’ll gain a skill point which you can invest in skills that interest you the most. For example, if you want to make everything explode, the demolitions perk in the combat category would be the one for you.
The creative director at Bethesda, Todd Howard also hinted that certain categories will behave differently. That depends on your background and starting skills, as well as the skills you’ve chosen to upgrade during your play-through. He stated that you could unlock new skills as you level up, and then you rank those skills up by using them and completing challenges.
Starfield Traits
Taking a leaf out of Outer Worlds, Starfield allows you to pick up 3 unique traits. The traits have both positive and negative effects. For example, if you select the “Kid Stuff” trade, you can visit your parents in the game, but 10% of all your income will go to support them. Similarly, picking up the “introvert” trait gives you more endurance when you are adventuring alone but less when you have human companions with you.
The traits seem to be optional, as you don’t need to pick all 3, but they will give the game a lot of replayability. This means you can start a new character with different backgrounds and traits and enjoy the game in a whole different way. There are 16 traits that we know so far.
Game Director Todd Howard explained in an interview that you could remove a trait with a small side quest or activity if you don’t like it. This will allow you to continue playing with your character instead of starting over. However, that particular trait will be removed permanently from the playthrough.
Starfield Engine
Starfield is using Creation Engine 2. While The Elder Scrolls 5 and Fallout 4 shared the same engine technology, Bethesda engineered Creation Engine 2 with Starfield in mind. From what we have seen, there are definitely marked improvements to not only the graphics but also facial features and lighting.
How far the improvements go remains to be seen, but the gameplay trailer does a good job of showcasing the highlights of the engine. The draw distances in the gameplay demo seemed quite impressive. Although Bethesda is still not great at rendering smoke, that’s a small nitpick.
If you’re worried that the new engine might not support mods, you can relax because Bethesda has confirmed mods will work with this engine. There are not a lot of details of how this will be implemented yet, but Todd Howard stated during a Reddit AMA, “Our plan is to have full mod support like our previous games. Our modding community has been with us for 20 years. They love what they do and hope to see more make a career out of it.”
Starfield is a purely single-player experience. So if you’re hoping to be a co-op Explorer with your buddies, this might not be the game for you. Perhaps the negative reception Fallout 76 received dissuaded Bethesda from pursuing multiplayer for Starfield. Or, The Creation Engine 2 would have trouble running multiplayer sessions. Whatever the reason might be, fans of purely single-player experiences would be quite happy with the direction Starfield is taking.
Developer Insights
Following the announcement of the game, Bethesda’s marketing team has been slowly introducing us to the core concepts behind the game. They’ve launched a mini-documentary-like series on the official Starfield website that details different aspects of the game, complete with developer commentary and interviews. Here are the episodes released so far:
The Endless Pursuit
In this episode, Game Director Todd Howard, Studio Director Angela Browder, and Art Director Matt Carofano talk about the ambitions behind the studio and how they are shaping up the future with Starfield.
Made For Wanderers
This episode has Game Director Todd Howard, Design Director Emil Pagliarulo, Lead Artist Istvan Pely, and Lead Quest Designer Will Shen discussing how they are approaching game development. They also talk about how they are bringing the unique Bethesda flavor to this space adventure and how they are making the roleplaying experience more fulfilling.
The Sound of Adventure
This episode of Into the Starfield has Bethesda Game Studios Audio Director Mark Lampert and Starfield Composer Inon Zur talking about the importance of music and sound design in the game.
The main theme [song] in any of our games—is the frame of our game. We always try to weave it through in some way. As the player levels up, as the player discovers new locations, we always harken back and play or hint at those melodies.
Mark Lampert – Bethesda Game Studios Audio Director
Conclusion
2023 is going to be a big year for Xbox-exclusive role-playing games, and spearheading that would be Starfield. We cannot wait to get our hands on this epic role-playing, space-faring game by one of the best developers of single-player experiences. If Starfield is Skyrim in space, we would be playing the game for years to come.
We will update the article once the official release date of Starfield is announced.
