Microsoft purchased Zenimax a few years ago and we're finally getting to see the effects of that purchase. Bethesda has a few interesting games on the way in the next 12 months but they need a little more time than expected. Here's what we know about Starfield right now.
*LATEST* - Starfield Dialogue System Revealed
In a "Constellation Questions" video with Todd Howard, we got our first glimpse at the dialogue system that will be featured in Starfield and it's one that fans of classic Bethesda titles will be excited to see.
More reminiscent of the pre-Fallout 4 method of dialogue, Starfield will see the return of different dialogue options amongst its 250,000+ lines, such as the ability to persuade enemies but this comes with a little twist to make the dialogue feel more natural with points and different levels of options.
Starfield Will Let You Get a Mortgage
The official gameplay reveals for Starfield at the Xbox and Bethesda conference finally gave fans a good look at the game and what kind of features we can expect once the game launches in 2023.
One section of this breakdown was dedicated to character customization, a staple feature of Bethesda RPGs and a popular one at that. It was during the reveal of traits that one viewer noticed something interesting. Something they then posted to the Starfield Reddit. You can get a mortgage.
The "Starter Home" trait states that the player owns "... a small house on a peaceful little moon, but it comes with a 50,000 credit mortgage with GalBank".
Starfield isn't the first Bethesda Games Studios title to feature Mortgages. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, the 1996 RPG that helped establish the franchise's popularity. In Daggerfall, players could take out loans from banks to buy homes and then pay them back.
It's interesting to see this feature make a return as it suggests that Starfield will be taking elements from all of Bethesda's games and not just the more recent titles they've released.
Todd Howard Reveals More Starfield Details
With the gameplay of Starfield now out in the wild after the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard has been making the rounds and talking about the upcoming game.
According to his interview with IGN, Starfield will include more handcrafted content than any Bethesda game prior to this alongside its procedural galaxy and while the game has 1,000 fully explorable planets, players can choose to ignore them if they want to by focusing on the handcrafted content instead.
Howard also explained that the main quest for Starfield is around 40-50 hours long and will have four main cities to explore with the main one being New Atlantis, the largest city in any Bethesda game ever.
The biggest reveal from the gameplay is that Starfield players will not be able to seamlessly travel from planet to space with Howard describing the decision as something they "decided early in the project" and that "on-surface is one reality, and then when you're in space it's another reality"
Starfield Gameplay Revealed at Xbox Bethesda Showcase.
The main event of the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase at Summer Game Fest was, of course, Starfield, presented by Todd Howard in a 15-minute display of the title's gameplay.
The presentation was broken down into four sections, each interjected with Todd Howard talking about the game and some of the features we can come to expect from it down the line.
The first segment was an extended edit of gameplay on the moon of Kreet where a player explores the scenery before infiltrating a facility and engaging in combat with some pirates of The Crimson Fleet, one of the game's factions.
Section two introduced us to the capital city of New Atlantis and the main faction of Starfield known as Constellation before exploring the main story of the game and its various locations and factions that you'll be encountering.
The third section gave us an in-depth look into Starfield's expanded character creation process including body shape and walk animation including background skills and traits to further customise your experience as a player. This segment also discussed the return of weapon modding and settlement building from Fallout 4 alongside full spaceship customisation and flight, the biggest shock of the trailer.
The final section was a showcase of how big Starfield is set to be upon it's arrival in 2023, with Todd Howard claiming that game will have over 100 systems and over 1000 planets to explore, giving players a lot of content to keep them occupied.
Starfield Delayed
Along with Redfall, Starfield has been delayed to 2023. It's apparently a very big game so this extra time should allow the team some time to really polish up the experience.
Hopefully, we'll see some proper gameplay at the Xbox and Bethesda showcase.
Xbox and Bethesda Showcase Announced
In a surprise bit of news, we are due to see an Xbox and Bethesda stream on June 12th. We will likely see a new update on Starfield then.
If anything changes, we'll update you right here.
Meet Vasco
Starfield recently put out a new video showing you Vasco, a robot companion. He's a heavy machine capable of making his way through harsh environments. He can carry huge weights and has some interesting tools
This is likely only the start of what we will see about its companions over the next few months.
Collectors Edition Content Leaked?
A watch that seems to resemble one seen in a behind-the-scenes video posted by Bethesda could be the big product included in the Starfield Collector's Edition. According to VGC, the watch is made by The Wand Company, a UK based prop business.
The name of the watch also lends further credence to its inclusion in Starfield. It's called the lPV6 Chronomark Smartwatch. A manual that accompanies the watch details it as an android device that connects to phones via Bluetooth.
This wouldn't be the first time a device like this has been included in a special edition at the Pip-Boy version of Fallout 4 saw a life-size Pip-Boy shell included that works with most modern smartphones.
Starfield Release Date
Bethesda has always had a habit of announcing release dates quite close to the time to prevent the need for the disappointment of delays but Starfield is different. Bethesda made the decision to delay its newest RPG from its initial release date of 11th November 2022 to some point in 2023.
No changes to this date have been made since the announcement and the studio has been relatively quiet as they work away on the game. It will be an Xbox and PC exclusive and available on Xbox Game Pass from its release date.