Starfield was first revealed during Bethesda's 2018 E3 conference alongside The Elder Scrolls VI as two major projects the acclaimed developer was working on. Starfield marks Bethesda's first original property in over two decades, as the studio is best known for its work on The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. With director Todd Howard at the helm, Starfield is primed to be an epic addition to its library.
For years following that announcement, Bethesda said little in regards to Starfield. However, that finally changed in 2021 when the studio revealed more information on the sci-fi RPG, including giving it a teaser trailer and release date. After so many years of sequels for the company's beloved franchises, Starfield will be a departure for Bethesda, and there are still so many questions surrounding it. Here's what we know about it so far.
Starfield's Latest Trailer
Starfield's teaser trailer provides some insight about the sort of science-fiction the game is embracing. The influence of NASA and existing space exploration is clear in the game's art direction, including the technology featured and how characters interact with it. Despite existing hundreds of years in the future, Starfield's world seems to take inspiration from contemporary science and space travel. The trailer itself shows a fairly barren planet, though concept art has revealed some much more lush and vibrant environments that players will be able to explore.
A year later, Todd Howard took to the stage at Summer Games Fest 2022 to show off some gameplay from Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi epic. With an edited look at a quest, the new footage gave fans a good idea of what they can expect from Starfield's core gameplay.
What Is Starfield About?
Starfield takes place during the 24th century in an area of space around 50 lightyears from the Earth known as The Settled Systems. The game picks up around 30 years after a war between two factions, the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective, known as The Colony Wars, with the two sides now at an uneasy peace. Players will be able to create their own character, who is a member of Constellation. This is an organization dedicated to exploration and discovery, a setup that is sure to lead players all over the cosmos.
Specific information about Starfield's plot is difficult to pin down, purely because the game appears to be so incredibly vast that there is so much that players can experience. Bethesda has been very vocal on player choice being at the center of the story, with players being given the tools to forge whatever path they desire, whether that be partnered with a main faction of blazing an individual trail. The developer has also discussed how they have revamped their traditional faction and dialogue choices as well.
Starfield is aiming for more natural, human interactions with more free flowing outcomes rather than simple "good" or "bad" options, further opening up Starfield's storytelling possibilities. Through it all, Starfield is looking to tell more than a simple space-faring story. In discussing the game's intentions, Todd Howard has said Starfield will be "asking the big questions: Why are we all here? Where is it leading, and what's next for humanity?"
What We Know About Starfield's Gameplay
As for gameplay, Starfield appears to have the most in-depth character creator in Bethesda history, with more appearance options than previous titles. Players will also be given a choice of backgrounds, with options such as Chef, Gangster, Ronin and Beast Hunterl which afford players three starting skills and influences some dialogue encounters. Players can also select up to three optional traits, each with an advantage and disadvantage, including such as Empath, Introvert and Alien DNA. More trademark Bethesda RPG elements are present in the skill trees, across the headings of Physical, Social, Combat, Science and Tech.
Traversing planets will see players interacting with the flora and fauna, as well as using a mining tool to gather resources. Looting also shows the strands of Bethesda DNA, with an all-new lockpicking system for players to master. Starfield also boasts a crafting system to put the player's inventory to use, allowing them to craft weapon and armor mods, and research performance upgrades.
Building upon Fallout 4's settlement system, players can build outposts on the planets they explore. These will offer safe havens across the stars for survival, generating resources, and place where characters met on the player's journey can be hired to work. The customization continues as players are able to modify their spaceships, from the appearance, to its performance, to the crew inside.
In terms of action, players familiar with Fallout will notice Starfield as a natural progression of the gunplay in that series. The gameplay reveal shows a sequence battling pirates using a selection of sidearms, shotguns, rifles, grenades and even a jetpack to maneuver around enemies. Players will also have to handle themselves in space too, being able to grab the controls of their ships and engage in dogfights across the cosmos.
Looking at Starfield's scale, the reveal boldly promises over 1,000 planets across over 100 star systems. Players will be able to land anywhere on a given planet, making Starfield undoubtedly the biggest world Bethesda has created yet.
When Will Starfield Release?
After going three years without a release date or even a release window, the 2021 Xbox/Bethesda E3 showcase announced an intended release date for Starfield: November 11, 2022. This date is significant to Bethesda, as it will also mark The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's eleventh anniversary. However, after reports indicated that date was in jeopardy, Bethesda officially announced that Starfield would be pushed back to the first half of 2023. In a statement, the published explained that it wants to ensure the final product is "the best, most polished version."
With Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media in early 2021, the studio is now operating under the banner of Xbox Games Studios. As such, Starfield will be a PC and Xbox Series X|S exclusive available to Game Pass subscribers on day one. However, Starfield director Todd Howard has been vocal about wanting everybody to be able to play the upcoming space-faring epic, and while he could not say more on the topic, his vague statement (and Microsoft's previous comments on the matter) might hint that PlayStation gamers could get access to Starfield and other Bethesda games at some point in the future.