2023-08-20 01:28:45
Games don’t get much bigger than that. On September 6th, Bethesda Game Studios, one of the most popular development teams in the world, will bring gamers something completely new for the first time in two decades. A far cry from the elves, orcs, and magic of the Elder Scrolls franchise’s premiere; as well as post-apocalyptic American states from their Fallout games; Starfield will take players into space. Its scope is almost unimaginably vast, featuring over 1,000 explorable planets, moons, and space stations, created through a combination of artists and algorithms to make each feel unique. Image: Starfield boats hundreds of planets to explore. Pic: Bethesda ‘irresponsibly big’ Like Bethesda’s previous role-playing games, Starfield lets players create their own hero, who will meet thousands of characters over the course of their adventure. Some will join their crew to wander the Milky Way – not only following the main narrative, but extensive side missions and other distractions along the way. In fact, Starfield feels comfortable devouring people’s lives. Pete Hines, one of Bethesda’s longest-serving executives, called the game “irresponsibly big” earlier this year. Gamers (most likely their loved ones) will be the judge of that, Pete, but that will likely only serve to reinforce the already huge anticipation surrounding this highly anticipated game. It’s probably the biggest title left on the 2023 release calendar, says Lucy James, games journalist at GameSpot – not even a small feat of Spider-Man and Call Of Duty among its competitors. “Bethesda Game Studios’ games capture the zeitgeist as few games do,” she told Sky News. “They are loved for the depth of their missions, their huge worlds, and these memorable moments, and they can even get away with the kind of mistakes that other developers couldn’t necessarily because their games are so ambitious. “And they’ve been saying for years that Starfield is the most ambitious title they’ve ever worked on.” Image: Starfield will allow players to design their own ships. Pic: Bethesda Why Starfield Means So Much to Xbox First announced in 2018, Starfield experienced several delays before settling on its final release date. The wait got worse since Bethesda’s core team hadn’t released a game since 2015. That was Fallout 4, a segment many players and critics felt fell short of the previous or the studio’s most popular title: Skyrim. Skyrim first came out in 2011, taking the Elder Scrolls niche relatively mainstream. Over 60 million copies have been sold thanks to countless re-releases on modern consoles like the PlayStation 5, virtual reality headsets and even Amazon Alexa speakers. But while the excitement for Starfield is undeniable, it probably won’t even come close to those sales numbers. It might be a big release for gamers, but it might be an even bigger release for Microsoft and its Xbox platform. It may have felt like Skyrim arrived just in time for every power-packed device, but Starfield won’t even appear on PlayStation or Nintendo’s Switch, both of which boast audiences much larger than current Xbox consoles. That’s because Microsoft bought Bethesda’s parent company for $7.5 billion (then £5.8 billion) in 2020. One of the main reasons was to bring some of the biggest franchises in the industry to its Xbox Game Pass service, a Netflix-style subscription that offers not only games on console and PC, but also on smartphones via cloud streaming. James says the service, which has more than 25 million subscribers, has changed the way Microsoft views games. “Microsoft entered this generation on the back – their previous console was a lot less successful than its competitor and they’ve made a lot of changes to how the Xbox works,” she says. “They’ve bought a number of studios and are working on improving their portfolio and their image, but a lot of people are still criticizing them for not having the strongest lineup.” Image: The Starfield is located in the Milky Way. Pic: Bethesda Game Pass Prepares for ‘Massive Influx’ The latest entry in Microsoft’s winning Halo series has disappointed many gamers in 2021, while some of the games that came to them via studio acquisitions – like Redfall Earlier this year – it was a flop with critics. James says there’s “a lot of pressure” on Xbox to find an outcome that will drive Game Pass subscriptions higher – and perhaps Starfield seems better positioned than any game to date to do so. “A massive influx will come in September when Starfield continues,” she says. “You can buy it for £70, or pay for a month of Game Pass (£9 in the UK) to try it out and then get your foot in the door.” Read more:Why the Harry Potter game was so controversialGod Of War’s watershed moment for accessibilityHow the British scandal changed the course of the historic gameStarfield’s impact on Game Pass numbers could also offer a hint at Microsoft’s imminent purchase of Call Of Duty factory Activision Blizzard – the largest tech acquisition in history . No doubt, the company is hoping that the mega franchise will drive subscriptions even more. By the end of 2023, Game Pass could be home to some of the best and biggest titles in the industry, as Microsoft looks to do for games what Netflix did for movies and TV. For now, Starfield is the poster child for this installment. Bethesda’s first foray into the Final Frontier was always a big step for gamers, but it could also be a giant leap for gaming.
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