Starfield is one of Bethesda’s most ambitious projects to date. Active development began in late-2015 once the studio finished Fallout 4. And we only got our first proper glimpse of it during E3 2021. Now Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, has made clear his ambition to make Starfield Bethesda’s most played game ever.
As Bethesda’s first new intellectual property in over a quarter of a century, expectations are already high. And grand statements like Phil Spencer’s recent remarks to Axios reporter Stephen Totilo won’t do anything to temper expectations. Spencer told Totilo: “I love the Forza 5 and Halo stats…I love how many people played Psychonauts 2 vs. Psychonauts 1.” He continued: “So, when I look at the teams, when Todd and I talk about Starfield, it’s: ‘How do we make sure this is the most-played Todd Howard game ever?'”
Totilo noted that “rising player counts” is “key to understanding Microsoft’s strategy”. He pointed to Microsoft’s recent announcement that “Halo Infinite reached 20 million players, Forza Horizon 5 reached 18m.” But what does this mean for Microsoft’s approach to Starfield and how will they ensure more people get their hands on it than juggernaut titles like Skyrim and Fallout 4?
How will Microsoft make Starfield most played Bethesda game?
Spencer thinks producing the best possible games should be a top priority in order to achieve high player counts. He said: “Quality of the title is number one, no doubt about that…”. But he also believes providing more ways to access and play games is essential: “You can see it with Forza and Halo the last releases. Those are the most played games in those franchises because we made them available on more screens than we ever have, through more business models than we’ve ever made them available.”
He is, of course, referring to both games’ availability on Xbox Game Pass. And it appears he shares the same hopes for Activision Blizzard franchises as he does for Starfield once Microsoft’s acquisition of the company completes next year. He said: “I want more people to be playing WoW in five years that are playing today. I want more people to be playing Call of Duty in five years, more people to be playing Candy Crush in five years, because we’ve made it more accessible to more people.”
Starfield release date
Starfield is due for release on 11th November 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and it sounds like this date will stick. Todd Howard previously said: “We’re confident in the date. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be announcing it.” But with the game still months from release, there’s still lots we don’t know about it and we can’t wait to learn more.
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