Bethesda intrigued fans in 2018 when it teased Starfield, its upcoming action role-playing game set in space. But while excitement for the new IP grows, Bethesda Vice President Pete Hines seems to have confirmed that no new details will be released on the game until next year.
Bethesda has a pedigree for its expansive action role-playing games such as the Fallout and Elders Scrolls series. When the developer teased Starfield at E3 2018 – its first new IP in more than two decades – fans hoped that they might get to play the game by the end of 2020. The possibility seemed likely at the time. Bethesda was wrapping up development on Fallout 76 and still had two entire years to focus on Starfield. But those hopes now appear to have been dashed, as Hines took to Twitter to dismiss the notion that fans will see anything new regarding Starfield this year.
The confirmation took place in an exchange over Twitter, when a user made a post about their boyfriend having a dream that Hines said, “We’re not going to tell you anything about Starfield until next year.” Hines, who is known for giving fans hints about Bethesda’s upcoming games via social media, responded. “Your bf is smart,” he said, in what appears to be a confirmation that no new Starfield information will be released until 2021.
Many fans expected Bethesda to showcase the game and announce its release date at this year’s E3 event. But when the event was canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bethesda opted not to replace its presentation with a digital showcase and instead went silent on their upcoming space title.
Not a lot is known about Starfield, but the game has been in development for years. Bethesda has internally discussed the game for the past 10 years, and started active development on it after the studio finished Fallout 4. Bethesda Director Todd Howard said that the game will have Bethesda “DNA” and will focus on single player gameplay. While there is no official release date, Bethesda has confirmed that the game will release before The Elder Scrolls 6.
While we may never know what Bethesda had planned for E3 this year, it seems plausible that the pandemic caused development issues and delayed the game. Starfield would not be the only game that was negatively affected by pandemic, as a slew of other titles, such as Wasteland 3, have been also delayed as a result of the crisis.
Then again, it may have never been Bethesda’s intention to release Starfield this year in the first place. In past interviews, Howard said that the Starfield would release on next generation consoles and feature “a lot of new systems,” meaning that the game would take more time to develop and could have been planned for 2021 all along. It looks like fans will have to wait at least another half year to find out.
Starfield is in development for unspecified platforms.