Everything you need to know about Starfield: Trailer, release date and more
Bethesda is a gaming titan with some of the most popular franchises in the world under its belt, the likes of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Now, though, it’s working on something completely new – a totally fresh science-fiction IP.
The game’s called Starfield, that much we know, and you’re in the perfect place to find out everything we know about the upcoming title.
Starfield trailer and release date
Bethesda unveiled Starfield at E3 in 2018 with the above teaser trailer that gives us very little to go on – it’s only a minute long! That evocative name set the rumour-mill going into overdrive, but there was no release date to go with it.
We’re obviously years on from that point now, and haven’t heard much more about Starfield as of yet. We do know that it’s now the main priority at Bethesda, though, taking precedence over the also-announced Elder Scrolls 6, so there are clearly plenty of resources being thrown at it.
What sort of release that translates to isn’t clear, but recent indications are that Bethesda is hoping to be able to put it out there this year, in 2021 – unveiling it in the summer and releasing in winter. That sounds mighty promising, although it’s a fairly tight turnaround. We’re probably going to hedge our bets and say that 2022 is still the most likely date, with a reveal coming this year.
Starfield platforms
What would have been a simple bit of estimation only a few months ago has become more complicated when it comes to the game’s likely platforms. After all, Microsoft recently completed its blockbuster purchase of Bethesda, and big-name exclusives will surely have been one major motivator behind that.
Therefore, we’re pretty confident that unless Sony had some sort of secret deal signed you can expect Starfield to be exclusive to Xbox consoles. Most likely, it’ll only be on Xbox Series X and S, too, since it sounds for all the world like a next-gen title.
However, PC players shouldn’t despair – Bethesda has always treated the platform right, and Xbox Game Pass for PC means we’re pretty sure it’ll arrive there on launch day too. Needless to say, we think it’ll be on console Game Pass from day one as well, a real treat for subscribers down the line.
Starfield is exclusive to Xbox and PC. Period. This is me confirming that. https://t.co/j78Msk8nyG
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) May 15, 2021
This line of thinking has been confirmed by industry reporter Jeff Grubb, above – he says his sources strongly indicate the game will be an Xbox and PC exclusive, so there’s not a lot to suggest PS5 owners should be too hopeful.
Starfield story and gameplay
We know next to nothing about Starfield, with the only hints given out by that cryptic teaser trailer. It shows a planet before revealing a satellite that unfolds and zips through some sort of cosmic wormhole or gate.
The word “constellation” appears partially at the start, too – but we’re scraping the barrel, here! The reality is that we know only a few things for sure – it’s a sci-fi game, for one, and it looks a lot like there’ll be themes of space exploration to get into.
Whether that sees us taking on the role of a spacefarer or astronaut, and the sort of story the game will tell, will have to come out with time. Bethesda obviously specialises in open-world RPGs, so we’d also suspect that it’s likely to fit into a similar mold.
The rickety nature of that satellite in the teaser, and some quotes from Bethesda supremo Todd Howard, make it sound like space travel will not be some easy feat in Starfield, though. Talking to Elon Musk in 2019, Howard compared it to “flight in the ’40s, like it’s dangerous,” so we’re hoping there could be some interesting mechanics on that front.
After a good chunk of radio silence, in late 2020 a couple of images surfaced out of nowhere, including the one above, purporting to be from pre-release Starfield builds. There’s no proof of this, and only some similarities in the UI’s design compared to the official Starfield website to back it up.
It’s not much to go on, but it looks like it confirms a few details, including the ability to spacewalk in the game and the fact that it could have a third-person perspective. It also looks like it could let players choose their equipment, and their weapons, judging by the icon at the bottom left.
Again, this is all we have to dig into at the moment – it’s pretty thin, but it will be interesting to look back when we have more information, to work out whether this is the genuine article.
