Starfield’s gonna be huge for Bethesda. It is the first bit of the new IP of the game for 25 years and will be a game for a player that marks the beginning of a new epic franchise. But what’s the game about? And, more importantly, when can we play it?
Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference had a lot in store for the fans of her beloved franchises. We got specific details for their upcoming Fallout 76 MMO, news of their Fallout Shelter spin-off on Nintendo Switch, a revelation of a Doom sequel, and confirmation that The Elder Scrolls 6 was officially (finally) in development.
One of the most surprising announcements, however, was for a completely new IP called’Starfield’: what Bethesda director Todd Howard called’our next generation, an epic single player’.
Starfield will be a new RPG for a developmental player behind the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. However, instead of the medieval fantasy or post-apocalyptic wasteland of its other franchises, this new game will take players into outer space.
Summary
- What is it? What is it? A single-player role-playing game in the outer space of the creators of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls
- What can I play in? It’s almost certain to reach PC, PlayStation and Xbox, but we may have to wait for the next generation of consoles.
- When can I play it? Not yet known, but possible between 2019 and 2020.
The launch date of Starfield
So far, what has been launched is a step forward.
With so little detail on the ground, and a major release of Fallout later this year, the earliest we would expect to see a Starfield game would be 2019, although it could be later.
The director of Bethesda Game Studios, Todd Howard, referred to Starfield’s first game as “next generation”, suggesting that he might not see a release before the next generation of consoles (either the PS5 or Xbox 2).
However, it could mean that the game will use the capabilities of the latest mid-cycle upgrades of PS4 and Xbox One, in which case 2019 or early 2020 would most likely be the case.
News and rumours from Starfield
According to reports, Bethesda’s been talking about Starfield for years.
There have been rumours about the game since Bethesda publisher Zenimax filed a trademark for the name in 2013.
Considering how much mileage Bethesda has achieved with her other games like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, which have seen several spin-off tickets and MMO variants, she presumably hopes to make Starfield a powerful franchise in the same lineup.
Bigger than ever
Both the Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series have shared a similar character progression system and open-world backdrop, partly rooted in sharing the same game engine.
While we haven’t heard any details about the game, Starfield seems to be following the same path, albeit in a more galactic setting. But the final frontier could have much greater potential for exploration, allowing players to travel across several planets and find unknown civilizations.
There’s a big gap in the market for science fiction role-playing games.
With the future of the RPG series of the space opera Mass Effect uncertain and the unfulfilled promise of the planet exploration game No Man’s Sky, Starfield will enter a game market hungry for a well-made science fiction RPG. With the proven success of other Bethesda franchises, could the developer have the next Mass Effect in his hands?