This is ultimately rather unsurprising news that has hit the net in recent days. Bethesda announced the postponement of the release date of Starfield and explained in a press release.
[Mis à jour le 13 mai 2022 à 10h47] Starfield is a bit Bigfoot. We’ve been hearing about it for several years, we know it’s impressive, yet it’s hard to find pictures of it. Bethesda and Xbox’s key future project remains just as elusive as ever. A situation that could continue for a while since the studio very recently announced the postponement of its release date initially set for winter 2022, to the first half of 2023. A rather unsurprising news given the current state of the video game industry, which still suffers from the stigma of the coronavirus pandemic. Bethesda has also published a short press release justifying this choice, and that of the postponement of Redfall which we translate to you below:
“We have made the decision to postpone the launches of Redfall and Starfield to the first half of 2023. The teams at Arkane Austin and Bethesda Game Studios have incredible ambitions for their games and we want to ensure that you receive them in their best possible versions. We want to thank you all for your excitement about Redfall and Starfield. It is an immense energy that inspires us all every day and guides our own enthusiasm for what we are creating. We can’t wait to share our next dive into Redfall and Starfield gameplay with you. Thank you for your support.“
A decision justified by the ambition of Starfield therefore, which could be the most titanic project of Bethesda to date. And if you want our opinion, it is better today to postpone the release of a game than to force a brutal and inadequate release. Remember the releases of Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield 2042, two disasters caused by marketing departments clearly out of step with the development services of CD Projekt Red and DICE. Especially since the latter warned their respective studios well before the release date that their games were not ready to be distributed to the general public. For Bethesda, it’s all about delivering quality, finished products, a decision supported by most of their community.
We know little about Starfield, but we know it’s a huge project. Bethesda’s priority for almost three years, it would be its first space RPG, set in a futuristic galactic universe. A project developed for several years, and now achievable thanks to the technologies of the latest generation consoles. A pitch that promises, and it is true that Bethesda has the potential, and the time to bring us a quality game. In addition, the studio is developing a game that is not part of its usual franchises (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout) and is thus placed under the star of renewal. A good sign ?
Starfield, in the words of Todd Howard himself: “It’s a next-gen role-playing game (RPG) where you can go where you want, be whoever you want, while following our (Bethesda) stories, and forging your own”. It would therefore be an exploration and role-playing game, where you will join Constellation, the last group of space explorers, in order to create your own story. You will be able to find several different cities / universes, three of which were presented to us by Emil Pagliarulo (creative director) in three trailers like the one above at the Gamescom 2021. We can see the city of New Atlantis, capital of the United Colonies, the most powerful faction in the Starfield universe. We were also able to discover the city of Neon, a kind of space marina, and the city of Akila, capital of the Collective of Free Stars. Through these artist’s views, we were able for the first time to appreciate the work of the Bethesda creative team, which presents us with a rich and complex universe, which is reminiscent of certain Star Wars worlds. But far be it from us to compare these two universes, moreover, we still know too little about Starfield.
It’s still a little early to talk about pre-ordering. From what we know, Bethesda is still in the early stages of the creation process for this ambitious space RPG. On the other hand, we know that the American firm has planned to release Starfield in 2022, and has already given a precise date: 11 November 2022. We also know that it will be a Xbox and PC exclusivesince the game will be released on Xbox Series X|S and on PC, directly in the Xbox Game Pass. For PS5 owners, it will probably take patience. Indeed, an exclusivity can be indefinite or last a year like a Deathloop for example.