Todd Howard has shared a surprising insight about Starfield.
06.09.2023 - 15:23 / ign.com / Todd Howard / Phil Spencer / Pete Hines / Howard
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.
Speaking to the BBC, Howard stressed that working to one console lets the development team “focus”, which in turns “yields a better product”.
"When you're making something exclusive then the more you can focus,” Howard said. "You know this is the hardware or the thing people are playing on, so the ability to focus on that always yields a better product.
"You do want people to be able to access it of course. But being with Xbox means there is an ease of access for us and I'm told we're expecting more people playing this launch than anything we've ever done before and that's despite the success of our previous games.”
Starfield, which launches proper today, September 6, as a day-one Game Pass game as well as a premium release on PC and Xbox Series X and S, is seen as a key first-party release for Microsoft after a string of high-profile failures.
Howard’s comments echo those of Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines, who said in June during the trial between Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the future of the Activision Blizzard buyout, that developing for fewer platforms has streamlined the process in some cases.
Hines said developers can hold more rounds of quality assurance testing when a game is on fewer platforms, which he called less of a risk than developing for many platforms. Hines insisted Starfield wouldn't hit its September release date if it were a multiplatform title.
Indeed, exclusivity was a big topic at the trial, during which we also learned that MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game is also set to be exclusive to Xbox and PC. Arkane's Harvey Smith has also said the studio canceled the PlayStation 5 version of Redfall following the Xbox acquisition and the exclusivity of The Elder Scrolls 6 is apparently up in the air.
Perhaps more interesting is Howard’s comments about the effect on brands from exclusives. "I do also think people attach brands to certain games. When you think of Zelda you think of the Switch and I think there are times when that can be a real benefit."
Microsoft will be hoping the launch of Starfield boosts Xbox Series X and S, which has significantly lagged behind console rivals PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. During the aforementioned trial, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was forced to admit Microsoft had lost the console war, and sales data shows Xbox Series X and S have struggled to shift units this year.
If you’re after more cool stuff on Starfield, check out the player who stuffed 20,000 potatoes into a cockpit, opened the door, and revealed the game’s "mind-blowing" physics. If
Todd Howard has shared a surprising insight about Starfield.
Yesterday was quite eventful for Xbox as several unredacted documents from Microsoft’s court case with the Federal Trade Commission leaked. Not only did they confirm the existence of several unannounced projects, like a sequel to Ghostwire: Tokyo and Dishonored 3, but a mid-gen refresh for the Xbox Series X/S and its next-gen console being a hybrid cloud platform.
Microsoft and Xbox representatives appeared in court earlier this year to get its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard legally greenlit. Per usual court proceedings, various emails, documents, and more were sealed away from the public and press, but many unseen documents leaked this morning. It's how we learned Xbox head Phil Spencer considered acquiring Nintendo and Warner Bros. Games at one point, and that Microsoft is planning an Xbox Series X/S refresh with a new controller for next year. Other documents point to potential remasters of Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, alongside other games.
A number of unannounced Bethesda and ZeniMax games have leaked from an internal document publicly shared as part of the ongoing Microsoft and FTC case around the Activision Blizzard acquisition. New iterations for some of the best PC games ever – including Doom, Dishonored, and Ghostwire Tokyo – appear to be in the works, alongside both an Oblivion and Fallout 3 remaster.
A massive leak of Bethesda's planned release schedule reveals plans for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3 remasters, as well as sequels like Dishonored 3 and Ghostwire: Tokyo 2.
While it’s certainly true that Starfield already has more mods than most games ever receive during their entire lifetime, including the hotly anticipated Script Extender thingamajig, it doesn’t take an eagle’s eye to notice that the vast majority of them are still relatively limited in scope. That’s for good reason, too, as Starfield is currently missing a crucial feature that all Bethesda Game Studios RPGS eventually receive: Creation Kit support. Until Creation Kit 2 – built specifically for Starfield‘s Creation Engine 2 – comes out, modders won’t be able to easily add new weapons, customizations, and other assorted goodies into the game, but the good news is that it’s bound to happen relatively soon!
Microsoft’s head of gaming has addressed the subject of whether The Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive.
Microsoft has announced an Xbox Digital Broadcast for Tokyo Game Show.
Todd Howard reveals the first real bit of information concerning the upcoming Indiana Jones game that players have heard for months.
Less than a day after the game's official launch, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer proudly announced that Starfield has exceeded one million concurrent users across all platforms (PC, Xbox Series S|X, and cloud).
All eyes might currently be on BigOl'Spacegame, but there's plenty more happening behind-the-scenes at Bethesda, one of those things obviously being MachineGames' Indiana Jones project — which, depending how you choose to interpret four words from Bethesda's Todd Howard, might just be gearing up for a proper reveal next year.
Todd Howard is a massive fan of the Indiana Jones franchise. We know that much already, so the fact that he’s getting the opportunity to bring out a video game for the IP must be quite a dream come true. However, we’ve learned little to nothing about this game, and that should change soon. In a recent interview with Esquire, Bethesda’s Game Director did make one small mention of the game and even hinted more towards when we can expect more news to emerge. However, we might be waiting for more details to arrive sometime next year.