Starfield director Todd Howard has explained the advantages of not having to develop for the PlayStation 5. In 2020, Microsoft made a bombshell announcement that it was buying Zenimax and Bethesda, the creators of RPGs like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and now the upcoming Starfield. The multi-billion dollar deal gives Xbox access to some of the most renowned franchises out there and positions the platform holder for some potential awards come next fall so long as Starfield releases in a good state and meets expectations with fans. It will likely be Xbox’s biggest game next year as it was certainly expected to be the company’s biggest game of 2022 before it was delayed.
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On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Bethesda’s Todd Howard talked at length about the studio’s games, the industry at large, and more. One of the most interesting talking points was when he began to explain the advantages of not having to develop Starfield for PlayStation 5. It’s already been confirmed numerous times that Starfield is exclusive to Xbox and it seems like there’s no plans to change that anytime soon. Howard praised the PS5 and wanted to make it very clear Bethesda did well on PlayStation, but had a stronger relationship with Xbox as the Microsoft-owned company had been there for Bethesda when it began making console games like Morrowind. Howard noted that the acquisition made it easier to focus on one console and PC rather than multiple consoles, but also noted that it allows for more resources. The prolific game director also revealed that Xbox itself has helped out on Starfieldย with the platform holder’s top engineers working to make the game look the best that it can on Xbox Series X|S.
Although acquisitions can create a lot of problems in terms of availability of a series, it can also create good things. It’s great to hear that Xbox is lending a hand on the development of Starfield and ensuring it can be the best game possible, both by allowing it the time necessary via a delay and granting resources to help make the development easier. Only time will tell how Starfield performs on Xbox, but it sounds like Microsoft is investing the right resources to make it a flagship title for the console.
Starfield will release sometime in 2023 for Xbox Series X|S and PC. Are you ok with it not releasing on PS5? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
