2023 has already been a monumental year for gaming. In an average year, the games industry will usually see around 3-4 actual game of the year contenders, this year however, there's been at least one contender every few weeks. From Hogwarts Legacy and Dead Space Remake at the start of the year, to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom a few months later, to Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, and Final Fantasy 16 all dropping within just a few days of one another, 2023 has truly been one of gaming's greatest years, and it somehow feels like things are only getting started, with Starfield ushering in another incredibly busy release period.

After some much-needed downtime last month, Starfield has kicked off the Fall release season with a bang. Though its critical reception has been a bit mixed, there's no denying that Starfield has made a significant impact on the industry, with gamers from across the world engaging in the limitless discourse surrounding its release. But Starfield can't be the center of attention forever, and its time in the spotlight is already destined to come to an end soon, though its shadow will likely linger for much longer than some fans might have expected.

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Starfield's Shadow Is Going To Loom Over The Rest of the Year's Releases

Starfield, as fans expected, is absolutely gigantic. Completing Starfield's main story at full speed will still take players around 20 hours, and that barely scratches the surface of what Starfield has to offer. Much like any other Bethesda RPG on release, fans currently have no idea just how much is packed into Starfield, though it'll likely take players well over 100 hours to see everything the game has to offer, and potentially much, much longer. On top of side missions, there's also the extensive ship-builder system, along with faction quests, companion errands, and random activities.

For the vast majority of those playing Starfield, it's probably going to take quite some time before they even feel like they've seen half of what Starfield has to offer. But that's okay, as Bethesda has made it repeatedly clear that it wants fans to take their time with Starfield. Almost a decade of work went into the game, and Bethesda wants fans to spend as much time enjoying that work as possible. Even Starfield itself encourages players to take things at their own pace, with its mission structure being perfectly suited to hour-long play sessions. Starfield, just like Skyrim and Fallout before it, is intended to be played over a long period of time, and that's definitely for the best considering the rest of the year's release schedule.

Though it may be one of the biggest releases this Fall, Starfield was just the beginning. The rest of September is still yet to see heavy hitters like Lies of P, Mortal Kombat 1, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and EA Sports FC 24 release. And then October's schedule is even more packed, with huge titles like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Forza Motorsport, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Alan Wake 2 among many others all hitting store shelves. There are way too many games releasing this Fall, and Starfield released at the perfect time.

With Starfield now fully released, fans have a good week or two to put in some considerable hours before other titles start dropping, and that's just enough time to get hooked on Bethesda's classic formula. Now, even if players are loving new titles like Spider-Man 2 or Mario Bros. Wonder, they'll likely still have Starfield lingering at the back of their mind, constantly enticing them to put in just another hour and to complete just one more quest, just like Skyrim did over a decade ago.

Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.

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