Why is Starfield taking so long? Your manager is responsible

Starfield It’s been one of the main themes of the week since last Sunday’s Xbox Showcase featured a breathtaking in-depth look. The new Bethesda game, exclusive to Xbox and PC, will not appear until September, but the public already has high hopes for it. And that’s no less, given the long wait that fans have faced.

In an interview with IGNit was his own Todd HowardDirector Starfieldwho decided not to shy away from the dart and respond to why is the game taking so long. Keep in mind that when it was announced at E3 2018, the developers didn’t give any hints as to when they planned to release it, although they did indicate that it would take at least “two to three years”.

Meanwhile, in 2021, there were rumors that the game would only arrive at the end of 2022, which was soon confirmed. However, Bethesda failed to fulfill the promise and reported that Starfield it will be delayed until 2023. It was only in March of last year that it was announced to launch on September 6th, and what was seen at the Xbox Showcase gave everyone confidence that there will be no new failures.

So, with the context set, what caused the 5+ year wait between the game’s announcement and its yet-to-be-finished release? According to Howard, It wasn’t until halfway through development that they realized the gigantic nature of the project.although he acknowledged that, despite the elapsed tense, the final version Starfield managed to stay very true to its original premise.

“I will put it this way: the game sticks to the original vision, which took longer than I wanted. But I would say it’s halfway there when you understand why no one is trying to make games like this. When you do these things you take risks and you are really ambitious, the road can be very windy sometimes. […] And we wanted, as far as possible, to say yes to the player. ‘I can do it?’ ‘I can do it?’ “Yes Yes Yes Yes”. And the space is big. So the amount of content we ended up making to really feel authentic just kept growing and growing from where we originally started.”

Todd Howard, Director Starfield.

Todd Howard, Bethesda and the long wait Starfield

An interesting point from Todd Howard’s comments is that avoided platitudes when you talk about why Starfield it took so long to develop. After all, between the announcement of the game and the already final release date, there were important events that could well serve as an excuse for the public to delay: the coronavirus pandemic and the purchase of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. Microsoft.

However, director Starfield He preferred to move away from these issues and justify the delays based on the scope of the project. “Look, this is a very big game. And while you’re doing all of this, you’re doing your best with release dates and forecasts. But given the size, if something is wrong even by a tiny percentage, you can quickly scale up to more time. [de desarrollo]”, he explained.

In any case, Howard assured that in the first half of this year, Bethesda devoted themselves to the game again and again. polish to the millimeter. since repair mistakes and offer the best in terms of performance in an attempt to deliver “the most balanced and engaging experience.”

It is clear that the last word on quality Starfield Players will receive it as soon as the title falls into their hands. However, all indications are that the wait was worth it. In fact, in recent days Matt Bootythe head of Xbox Game Studios, who assured that if it came out today, Starfield would be a game with less mistakes in Bethesda history. Words that are certainly not to be taken lightly.