'Starfield' Release Date: Is It Really The "Biggest Leap in Gaming Ever"?

Bethesda announced three huge upcoming titles at E3 2018, but Starfield is by far the most mysterious. The developer’s said little about the title aside from claiming that it will be nothing short of revolutionary. These bold claims have whipped fans into a frenzy but do they hold any merit?

Starfield is Bethesda’s first original IP in a whopping 25 years, which makes expectations high, but the company’s top spokesmen have taken hype for the game to even greater heights during interviews and press events. Studio director Todd Howard cited one of the primary goals of the game as “the biggest, most epic science fiction thing you can ever imagine” in a documentary on the company. More recently, YouTube gamer Camelworks revealed that a Bethesda staffer he met at E3 2018 shared the same sentiment.

“Ah man, I wish I could tell you more,” the staffer told Camelworks. “But Starfield is the biggest leap in gaming ever.”

Camelworks went on to note that he doesn’t recall Bethesda’s employees speaking so glowingly about their titles before, lending credence to the fan expectation that Starfield will shock the industry. Is that true? Has Bethesda’s staff been that subdued when describing previous titles?

Well, not really. Howard has made ambitious statements about Bethesda’s titles before that fans contend do not line up with the final product. Someone even compiled all of his answers into a humorous compilation video.

Most infamous was Howard’s statement that Fallout 3 would have 200 endings. He later clarified that the 200 “endings” are more aptly described as permutations. Fallout 3 was also heavily criticized on release for the bizarre ending which forced the player to enter a heavily irradiated chamber and die to save the wasteland. If the player asked Fawkes (who is immune to radiation) to do so in their stead, Fawkes refused and stated that it is not his “destiny”. The game was later patched so that players could achieve the “good” ending by sending in radiation-immune companions.

Starfield will probably be a perfectly fine and enjoyable game, but will it be the “biggest leap in gaming ever”? Unless it’s an cleverly disguised simulation of an actual space war, I doubt it.