Starfield Is A Better Game Because It's Exclusive To Xbox And Not On PlayStation, Todd Howard Says

Starfield's planets were originally supposed to be much more punishing for players, that is until Bethesda "nerfed the hell out of it," reveals Todd Howard.

For reasons I won't get into here because it may constitute a little bit of a spoiler, the planet Earth in Starfield is a bit of a wasteland. But what if it was The Wasteland—that is, the post-nuclear hellscape of Bethesda's other big sci-fi-ish game series, Fallout? In an interview with The Washington Post, creative director Todd Howard said developers actually gave thought to the idea.

You may have heard about a little space game called Starfield, the gravitational pull from which risks swallowing all games discourse for months and possibly years to come. Perhaps that's no surprise for a game that's been in development and hyped for as long as any title that I can remember (well, ones that have shipped anyway) but it's easy to forget now the thing's in our hands that it was subject to multiple delays along the way.

Starfield director Todd Howard has spoken about plans for the game that didn’t make the final cut, including the idea for a very neat Fallout reference. 

In an interview with Famitsu, Starfield lead and Bethesda frontman Todd Howard stated that the game's mod support «will be available next year» (obtained via machine translation), which likely refers to Starfield's equivalent to the Creation Kit modding tools for Skyrim and Fallout 4.

Starfield players have already made some incredibly useful mods, like a fix for the frustrating inventory system or the addition of DLSS support, but they've also added some very silly things like hairy chests, colourful juice boxes, and the lasagne loving cat Garfield.

Starfield is officially out, and modders have been working hard creating helpful add-ons, from useful, quality-of-life mods such as revamping the inventory UI to unofficially adding support for DLSS. Others have added more cosmetic things like reskin in-game clothes. And then there are some people out there who keep modding Bethesda's Todd Howard into the game.

Bethesda exec Todd Howard has claimed that Fallout 76’s troubled launch ultimately helped the studio’s developers become better judges of when their games are actually ready to be released.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard has discussed the benefits of Starfield being an Xbox console exclusive.

Starfield's game director Todd Howard has said that some players may find the ending «controversial.»

Bethesda development chief Todd Howard has discussed the benefits of Starfield being Xbox exclusive, namechecking the brand association Nintendo enjoys with its first party games.

Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft in 2021, which resulted in both Redfall and Starfield's Xbox exclusivity. Many have taken this to mean that The Elder Scrolls 6 and, when it eventually launches, Fallout 5 will also be Xbox exclusive, to much disappointment and even backlash. However, Todd Howard argues that this is good for the company and its games.