New Starfield Update Is Potentially Worrying News for Sequel

A new update out of Bethesda Game Studios that pertains to Starfield and the future of the sci-fi RPG series may be worrying news for Xbox fans. Starfield has been out for nearly two months on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC, giving Xbox fans plenty of time tor ruminate on the RPG and deduce what they like about the game and what they don’t like about the game. To this end, if you like the quests in the game, then we have some potentially worrying news for you. 

Following in the footsteps of Bethesda boss Pete Hines, Will Shen, lead quest designer and design director on Starfield, has left Bethesda to join another studio, How much does this matter? It’s hard to say. To an extent, it depends who’s replacing him. Shen has been with Bethesda for over a decade, so replacing someone with this much experience isn’t easy. And unless they promote up, it will be expensive. That said, it’s unclear just how much Shen’s lead and direction was pivotal to the game’s quests and overall design, making it impossible to gauge how much his departure will hurt the studio. For all we know he will be replaced with someone as efficient if not better, but typically losing a veteran, lead developer is not good because they are not easy to replace. 

Further, if you really enjoyed the quests in the game, and especially their design, then you’re probably really not going to like this departure. If you didn’t like this aspect of the game, then it’s possible this is good news for a potential sequel. 

Starfield was notably Shen’s first time as a Lead Quest Designer at Bethesda Game Studios. That said, his quest design and writing work spans the likes of Fallout 76, Skyrim, and Fallout 4.

At the moment of publishing, it’s unclear who will take over Shen’s role on the series. That said, it’s worth noting that we don’t know if there ever will be a Starfield 2. And even if there is, it’s probably not going to happen for a long time considering Bethesda Game Studios has to make The Elder Scrolls 6 and then Fallout 5 after that.