Starfield will launch without a fishing feature, Todd Howard has confirmed in a recent interview. While it's not much of a surprise, it's notable because of how popular fishing in video games has become in recent years. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Diablo Immortal, Far Cry 5, and many others support fishing to some degree. It's more common in open-world games and perhaps farming sims than in other genres, but its popularity is undeniable.
In fact, while the base game does not support it, Skyrim Anniversary Edition's Creation Club content does add fishing to the open-world fantasy game. With it, players can craft fishing rods and use them in distinct spots in various locations across Skyrim. It's not entirely impossible then that some fans hoped to see it in Starfield at launch then, but that's not the case.
A recent Kinda Funny Xcast brought on Bethesda's Todd Howard to talk about Starfield. Gary Whitta, during the interview, relayed a question from Windows Central's Jez Corden, asking if the upcomig game has a fishing mechanic. Howard confirmed that taking a fishing rod, catching space fish, and then selling or cooking them is not a feature in the game, but it did sound like players will be able to kill and collect fish. They just can't go fishing, which is an important, if slight difference. The base game version of Skyrim, for example, as well as the recently-released Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom allows players to kill fish with abilities and weapons and collect their corpses. It sounds like that, too, will be possible in Starfield, but there won't be a fishing rod. The Relevant portion begins at the 14:40 time mark below.
While it does sound like a funny question on the surface, Whitta does acknowledge two important elements that could have, in theory, tied fishing into Starfield. The first was the obvious: the popularity of the feature in open-world games. Secondly, however, Whitta talks about how the search for life in the galaxy usually begins with organisms limited to the water or seas. Starfield's main story revolves around discovering "what's out there" alongside Constellation, via newfound alien artifacts, so it's not a stretch.
At the same time, it's not a total game-changer either. It's unlikely anyone would be too upset that they can't go fishing in Starfield, especially with all the planets there are to explore, the vast scope of the Bethesda game, and so on. Not to mention, there will be a mod for it probably sooner rather than later.
Starfield releases September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.