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.
06.09.2023 - 13:21 / thegamer.com / Todd Howard / Phil Spencer / Howard / Howard Says
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.
"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," Howard told the BBC (via GamesRadar). "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."
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For comparison, Skyrim sold 3.4 million physical copies alone in its first 48 hours and seven million in its first week. It also became the fastest-selling Steam game at that time. Fallout 4 sold 1.2 million copies on Steam alone within the first 24 hours of its release. Howard claims that Starfield has surpassed both in terms of players, though whether it has in sales - due to launching on Game Pass - remains to be seen.
Starfield may be a "better product" due to its more focused launch, leaving behind Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, but Howard says that is not the only benefit. Exclusivity helps bolster the Xbox brand, something Nintendo and PlayStation have proven time and time again with their own ever-growing libraries, creating iconic gaming characters such as Mario, Kratos, Samus, Ratchet & Clank, Kirby, Aloy, and more.
"I do also think people attach brands to certain games," Howard said. "When you think of Zelda, you think of the Switch. I think there are times when that can be a real benefit."
It's unclear if other Bethesda games will follow Starfield's suit. It's a brand-new IP, not tied to any existing games in the publisher's portfolio. The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have a history of also launching on PlayStation, even if those ports are infamous and often lacking in DLC that PC and Xbox had. However, Sony did claim during its pushback against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King that Microsoft has made "the new releases of Starfield and Elder Scrolls" exclusive.
The only word right now from Xbox itself, particularly Phil Spencer, is that "It's so far out that it's hard to understand what the platforms will even be at this point". Instead, it will be handled on a "case-by-case" basis. So, we'll have to wait and see. But given that TES 6 has only just started early development, we'll be waiting for a while.
Next: Baldur’s Gate 3
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.
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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!
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.
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One of the biggest arguments that many gamers and developers get involved in is the discussion of console exclusivity. The general premise behind exclusivity is simple: it keeps certain games and franchises on specific systems so that they can have a “unique title” compared to other systems. In contrast, when a game is multiplatform, the game dev team has to attempt to ensure that everything works on every single system it’s on, which can be very stressful. The Starfield release on Xbox and PC is a hot topic issue given Microsoft’s buyout of Bethesda, but Todd Howard is looking toward the positive side of things.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard has discussed the benefits of Starfield being an Xbox console exclusive.
«When you're making something exclusive then the more you can focus.»