Starfield has been something of an enigma for Bethesda fans ever since its announcement at E3 2018. Set to be Bethesda's first new IP in over 25 years, the upcoming space-set RPG has been the focus on intense speculation for three years with very little information confirmed by Bethesda so far.
While there are some reliable leaks, many fans are wondering what they expect from Starfield at E3 2021, which is practically confirmed to be the game's next major appearance.
Confirming Features
There are several aspects of Starfield that have been reliably leaked over the last three years. One of the earliest set of leaked Starfield images gave fans a few hints at what they might expect when Starfield's features are finally revealed by Bethesda. One image, for example, showed a compass with O2, CO2, and gravity meters. This led many fans to reasonably conclude that Starfield would have survival mechanics integrated into its core gameplay.
Similarly, the modular designs of the buildings and ship seen in the initial leaked images led many Bethesda fans to speculate that Starfield would see a significant expansion of the base-building mechanics first introduced to a Bethesda RPG in Skyrim's Hearthstone DLC and later integrated into Fallout 4's retail release. While some fans were initially skeptical of the images, Bethesda's managing director Ashley Cheng was spotted at Brighton Digital 2020 wearing a shirt with an identical logo to the player character's shoulder patch in the leaks.
If Starfield gets a gameplay demo, fans can expect to see more of how the game's survival and building mechanics will work. A recent survey on Bethesda's website asked players to rank how much the following sentence applies to them: "I spend a lot of time creating my character, home, or spaceships." This makes ship-building seem central to Starfield, and makes it a likely feature to be shown off at E3 2021.
Exploring The World And Story
While later leaks have shown some interesting internal environments, the leaked images showing the outside world appear to be on a flat plane used for testing. Starfield will take place across multiple planets, and at Brighton Digital 2020 Todd Howard mentioned that procedural generation was being used to help build an expansive in-game world. None of that world has been officially shown yet, however, and some of the leaked screenshots come across as empty. Bethesda's Starfield showcase will likely show off some of the environments the studio has built since those images were leaked, as well as what it's like exploring those environments using the ship and jet-pack seen in the images.
Gamers can't really have an RPG without a story, but so far almost nothing has been revealed about Starfield's narrative. It's unlikely that Bethesda will go into too much depth, but it is likely fans will get answers to a few key questions. Why is the player character exploring the galaxy? What is the organization represented by the symbol on their suit and Ashley Cheng's shirt?
Fans are also likely to finally get a glimpse at what some of the NPCs in Starfield will end up being, whether they're monsters of friendly aliens. The player character has a weapon UI in the initial leaks, suggesting that Starfield will give players far more to do than fly around building bases on various planets.
When Bethesda unveils a game in full, the studio usually focuses on major features, a brief look at the game's open world, and a glimpse at the start of the story. With Fallout 4, for example, players got to see part of the opening sequence, shots of the Commonwealth after the Great War of 2077, and a showcase of features like settlement-building and crafting.
E3 2021 is likely a good time for Bethesda to start drawing in RP-oriented fans with hints at the setting and story of Starfield, especially since so little has been revealed so far. The new IP will need a strong premise to live up to Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. While Bethesda is unlikely to dive too deep into the game's overarching plot, an introduction to some of the world's characters and factions does seem likely. Fans have also assumed that Starfield will have some sort of spaceflight feature ever since the game's announcement. If true, this is likely to be one of the major new features showcased at E3, especially since unlike building or survival it's a feature unheard of in other Bethesda titles.
Other Likely Reveals
There are also some questions than any Starfield showcase will struggle to avoid answering. The screenshots seen so far almost exclusively show the player character seen from a third-person perspective, for example. Bethesda RPGs are known for their first-person perspectives, although players can zoom out to see their character in-full. It's not clear if the leaked images were in third-person to show off the player character, or if the game itself will be played primarily in the third-person. Any gameplay video will almost certainly confirm whether Starfield is primarily first-person or third-person, which may also indicate how much continuity the game will have with previous Bethesda RPGs.
Another subject of speculation that is likely to be confirmed one way or the other is the question of Starfield's exclusivity. There have been reports for some time that Starfield will be an Xbox and PC exclusive thanks to Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media Inc.
It's also likely that Starfield will finally receive a release date. When exactly that release window will be is hard to say. Some recent rumors have suggested the game could still be on track for a 2021 release, but other industry insiders like Jason Schreier have suggested that while a release window can be expected, a 2021 release is very unlikely. Either way, both Starfield's release date and the platforms it will be releasing on seem likely to be revealed. As a new IP, it's difficult to tell what other aspects of Starfield Bethesda could reveal at E3 2021. What is for certain, however, is that after three years of waiting fans are about to have access to more information about the upcoming game than ever before.
Starfield is currently in development.