It’s very rare to see publishers announcing release dates for their games months out in advance, much less a year and a half, and now especially it seems most publishers like to announce launch dates when games are actually close to launch. Earlier this year at E3, however, Microsoft and Bethesda very confidently announced the exact day for Starfield’s November 2022 launch.
Of course, games have always been prone to delays – such is the nature of game development – and especially over the last year and a half, delays have become much more common, as developers deal with issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. With that in mind though, what exactly are the chances that Starfield will be able to make its November 2022 launch?
Well, according to director Todd Howard, there’s a really, really good chance. Speaking in a recent interview with IGN, Howard confidently declared that the game’s release date isn’t just “penciled in”, but “written in ink”. When asked to elaborate, he said:
“It’s a very, very ambitious game. We were confident about the date when we put that out there. Our main focus is just making the best game that we possibly can. It’s a very, very ambitious game, and we’ve been through this a number of times.”
Later on in the interview, Howard went on to stress that putting the game’s release date in its trailer was very clear indication of how Bethesda feels about that date, adding that the game’s development is proceeding well, and though remote work-related challenges still have to be dealt with, the development team is well equipped to do so.
“We put it in a trailer,” he said. “Like it’s on the screen.”
“We want to do the best job we can, and there’s still so much to do,” Howard added when asked about if he feels good about the game’s release date. “I feel good about the game, and we’re confident about the date.”
“We’re at a state where we can play the whole game,” Howard said. “But again, there’s so much to do. It’s a very, very ambitious game, and we’re not going to let off the gas there. And given how the world’s gone, it’s hard to project exactly what’s gonna happen when.”
“In the grand scheme of the world, we have it great, but creatively, getting together and making those creative decisions and looking at a game together has definitely been challenging for all game developers during this time. And you see that. We’re a little bit fortunate that the leads on the project and a lot of our staff have worked together for so long that our ability to do that whether we’re sitting at home- and we also have other studios. We’ve always kind of done remote work, where we’re talking to somebody in Montreal or Texas. And so those things have worked out really really well for us.”
In the same interview, Howard also confirmed that Bethesda has a rough idea for what it wants to do with Fallout 5, but made it clear that that’s not something they will get to until both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 are outof the way. Read more on that through here.
Starfield launches for Xbox Series X/S and PC on November 11, 2022.
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