Starfield is “Skyrim in space”

Debuted with a teaser trailer at Xbox and Bethesda’s co-op E3 show this weekend, this sci-fi RPG is probably one of 2022’s most-hyped games. But what exactly is it?

“It’s like Skyrim in space,” Bethesda Game Studios’ executive producer Todd Howard tells Washington Post.  “We’ve known for a while that if and when we do something else, it would be science fiction.”

Starfield is Bethesda’s first new IP since Elder Scrolls: Arena in 1994, and also the company’s first new game announcement since its acquisition by Microsoft in March – but it’s been in development for about four years now. Making up an entirely new universe is a lot of work.

“We struggled at first at finding Starfield’s identity. We knew the style of game we wanted. But there’s so much science fiction, we didn’t have this existing franchise feel. We had to create that from scratch. What do the spaceships look like? What’s the tech level? What do people believe? What year is it really set in?” Howard explains.

“This is going to sound cliché, but I mean it. When you look up in the sky, there is this drive to know, what is out there? Are we alone? What are the origins of space and time and all of those things? What role does religion play in some of that as well? So, we do get into some big questions. I think a game like this is a good place to do that.”

As a member of the space agency Constellation, players must find the answers to those “big questions”, somewhere out there between the stars.

“For me, Starfield is the Han Solo simulator,” adds Bethesda managing director Ashley Cheng. “Get in a ship, explore the galaxy, do fun stuff.”

Starfield launches exclusively on PC and Xbox consoles, including Xbox Game Pass, on 11 November 2022.

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