Starfield Director Says Exclusivity Resulted in a "Better Product"

After years of wait, Starfield released earlier today, and it's exclusively available to gamers on PC, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. Unsurprisingly, there's been a bit of jealousy surrounding Starfield, as some gamers have expressed their wish that Bethesda had put the game on PS5 as well. While some Microsoft games have made their way to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles over the years, that doesn't seem to be the plan for Starfield. In a new interview with the BBC, director Todd Howard claimed that exclusivity resulted in an overall "better product."

"When you're making something exclusive then the more you can focus," Howard told the BBC. "You know this is the hardware or the thing people are playing on, so the ability to focus on that always yields a better product."

The Benefits of Exclusivity

While making a game available on multiple platforms can have a lot of benefits, there are also a lot of challenges, as well. Developers have to split their focus on different systems, and that can require greater investment, as well as longer development time. Howard acknowledged his desire to have the largest number of people possible enjoy Starfield, but also noted that being part of Xbox has also helped attract greater attention to the game.

"You do want people to be able to access it of course," Howard told the BBC. "But being with Xbox means there is an ease of access for us and I'm told we're expecting more people playing this launch than anything we've ever done before and that's despite the success of our previous games. I do also think people attach brands to certain games. When you think of Zelda you think of the Switch and I think there are times when that can be a real benefit."

Starfield: Only on Xbox

As Howard notes, Xbox has made it very easy for players in their "ecosystem" to access Starfield, and that might lead to more players getting a chance to experience the game. All of Microsoft's first-party games are available through Xbox Game Pass, so any subscriber can pay for a one month trial if they just want to try Starfield. Xbox Game Pass originally offered newcomers a $1 trial for one month, but recently eliminated that option. The move was likely meant to prevent players from abusing the offer for Starfield, which has had a significant amount of hype surrounding it.

Microsoft has also thrown a lot into promoting Starfield; the company even released a new model for the Xbox Series S ahead of launch! It's impossible to say whether Starfield would have gotten this level of attention had it not been an exclusive, but at the end of the day, anyone that wants to play the game is going to have to do so on an Xbox platform.

Do you wish Starfield had released on PS5? Did exclusivity get the game more attention? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]