Starfield Studio Prioritizes Player Freedom Over Making a “Less Buggy, Less Risky Game,” Says Bethesda’s Pete Hines

Bethesda Game Studios’ titles have always had a reputation for being technically rough, buggy games, and though Starfield is very clearly the most polished a BGS game has been at launch in a long, long time, it still has its fair share of technical hiccups.

But why is it that the often hilarious quirks that the developer’s games have become associated continue to be a thing even now? Well, according to Bethesda’s senior VP of global communications and marketing, it’s because the studio’s priorities lie elsewhere.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamesIndustry, Hines said that rather than making “less risky” games that would have fewer bugs, Bethesda Game Studios’ mantra is to make games that emphasize player freedom above all else, and though bugs and technical issues often go hand-in-hand with that, BGS doesn’t view them as dealbreakers.

“We embrace chaos,” Hines said. “We could make a safer, less buggy, less risky game if we wanted to. But what we try to lean into is player freedom. Yes, there’s going to be some little things here and there where your companion might stand a little too close to you sometimes, yet the freedom you get, and the things that happen because of that, we absolutely love and embrace.

“Of course there are bugs. But does it take away from your experience? Or do you have a consistent, fun game that you just can’t stop playing and experimenting with?”

In our review of Starfield, we awarded it a score of 10/10, saying, “As unfathomably vast and boundless as the subject matter it covers, Starfield raises the bar for its genre and for the medium as a whole in countless ways – much like the best of its Bethesda-developed forebears did in their time.” Read the full review through here.

Starfield is available in its early access period to Premium and Constellation Edition owners, and launches globally on September 6 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.