Highlights
- Starfield's successful launch, with over 1 million concurrent players, indicates that Bethesda's gamble on a new IP was worth the risk.
- Bethesda has a tradition of incorporating horror elements into their RPGs, and Starfield continues this trend with tense and unsettling quest chains.
- A potential Bethesda horror RPG could explore subgenres like supernatural detective games, paranormal investigations, or hunting down serial killers, leveraging the studio's storytelling and gameplay abilities.
With the release of Starfield, Bethesda is checking off all kinds of firsts for the storied developer. Not only does Starfield mark the first official Bethesda RPG with a science fiction setting and concept, but the title is already breaking records by surpassing over 1 million concurrent players across Xbox and PC just a day after its launch. This feat helps to make the game the most successful launch in the studio's history, indicating that the payoff for Bethesda's gamble on a new IP was well worth the inherent risk. In terms of where the studio could go next, it's high time for Bethesda to take a shot at crafting a dedicated survival-horror RPG.
In terms of the games actually produced by the studio, Bethesda has a long-standing tradition of sticking to high-fantasy with The Elder Scrolls. Purchasing and then re-imagining the Fallout franchise was definitely a gamble for the studio, albeit a worthwhile one, as the Fallout games are now just as synonymous with Bethesda as The Elder Scrolls games are. With fantasy, the post-apocalypse, and now science fiction firmly under its belt, Bethesda has one final frontier to chart by using its already proven talents at crafting tense and uncomfortable experiences to deliver a full-fledged horror game.
Bethesda RPGs Have a Strong Tradition of Horror-Leaning Elements, Starfield Included
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Whether players are discussing The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or even Starfield, it's almost a guarantee that each game's horror elements will come up at some point in the conversation. Despite none of these games being tried and true entires in the horror genre, each game contains more than its fair share of startling occurrences fit to make even the most unfazed players nearly jump out of their skin. Iconic moments such as encountering a Deathclaw for the first time in Fallout 3 or traversing a dimly lit Dwemer Ruin in Skyrim are capable of creating a sense of tension and unease that wouldn't be out of place in an Outlast or Amnesia game.
Without spoiling anything, there are plenty of quest chains in Starfield that have this same kind of tone, striking a balance between the game's spirit of exploration and the fear of the unknown. The question over whether intelligent life exists in the depths of space has been an enduring quandary for humanity to ponder, and Starfield addresses it in a way that many players might not expect. Bethesda has proved itself adept at creating moments in its games that wouldn't be out of place in a horror title, opening the door for the studio to flex its talents in this area fully.
What a Bethesda Studios Horror Game Could Look Like
This begs the question of what a Bethesda Game Studios horror IP might look like. Though a horror game in the world of Fallout could be an ideal fit, something about the dark humor and alternate history sci-fi leanings of the franchise might dampen the impact of a horror RPG set in its iconic post-apocalyptic world. Instead, a potential horror RPG from Bethesda could be the start of its own new franchise similar to Starfield. And just like sci-fi and fantasy, there are so many subgenres and deviations from standard horror for Bethesda to experiment with.
A supernatural detective game where a researcher tracks down a mysterious cult only to discover it worships a forgotten cosmic deity, a paranormal investigation game with a dedicated plot and gameplay similar to Phasmophobia, a hunt for a serial killer playing as an FBI profiler (akin to the cult-classic Condemned series); any one of these would make a viable pitch for a potential Bethesda horror RPG. If anything, Bethesda has proven its knack for crafting compelling stories and engaging side content no matter what genre it happens to be anchored by. Horror seems like the natural progression from science-fiction, and it's a genre the studio is well-equipped to handle.
Starfield is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.