Gameplay has finally been revealed from Bethesda's upcoming space-set RPG, Starfield, at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.
After nearly four years of anticipation, audiences finally have their first glimpse at what Starfield actually looks like in action. The brand-new gameplay trailer shows off gunplay, exploration, lockpicking, factions and everything else one would expect from a Bethesda RPG.
Starfield was announced all the way back in 2018, and not much was known about the title at the time. Since then, news has trickled out at a steady pace about Bethesda's RPG. The game will take advantage of systems introduced in Bethesda's other popular RPG series, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, to tell a new and compelling story. Rather than the fantastical setting of The Elder Scrolls or the irreverent post-apocalypse of Fallout, Starfield will feature a grounded science-fiction space setting with a focus on exploration.
Starfield was initially scheduled for release on November 11, 2022, the eleventh anniversary of Bethesda's most commercially successful title, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which famously released on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11). However, after internal turmoil at Bethesda made it clear that the hotly anticipated game would be unable to meet its targeted release date, Starfield was delayed to 2023 with no specific release date or window given. Reportedly, the decision was made due to developers' concerns that Starfield would become the "next Cyberpunk," in reference to Cyberpunk 2077's notoriously disastrous launch.
While the game is no longer scheduled to release in 2022, Bethesda has continued to issue steady updates on Starfield's development in the form of developer diaries and update videos. In one such update, studio director Angela Browder explained that Starfield would be a more grounded title than previous Bethesda games, and that the studio utilized its "lifetime of knowledge" in relevant areas to make the setting feel as realistic as possible. Development on Starfield is being headed up by director Todd Howard, who rose to prominence internally at Bethesda when he directed the critically acclaimed and wildly commercially successful The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and all three of its post-launch DLCs. Howard went on to direct Fallout 4 and oversee development on Fallout 76. Howard and Bethesda are also currently developing The Elder Scrolls VI, a follow-up to Skyrim and the first mainline The Elder Scrolls game in over a decade. The Elder Scrolls VI was announced at the same event as Starfield back in 2018, but news on the title has not been as forthcoming, as the studio seems focused on completing development on Starfield.
Much to Todd Howard's chagrin, Starfield will release exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and Microsoft Windows sometime in 2023.
Source: YouTube