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Starfield is seven months away from being released. Since entering pre-production in 2013, this new IP from the makers of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series has been in development for nearly a decade. As more and more promotional materials for the brand new Bethesda RPG continue to roll in, fans are getting hyped for what they dub “Skyrim in space.”
Co-op and multiplayer are two features that have become increasingly prevalent in modern AAA titles. Exploring sprawling worlds with friends has its own appeal. However, from a game design perspective, having a co-op or multiplayer tacked on to an otherwise single-player experience hampers the flow of the title.
Regarding Starfield, Bethesda has repeatedly confirmed that it is a strictly single-player game. Much akin to Skyrim and Fallout 4, Bethesda has clearly banked on its prowess in crafting a masterful single-player experience with their new game.
Bethesda going back to its roots with Starfield as game development focused on delivering a single-player experience
Be it the Elder Scrolls or Fallout series, Bethesda has led the contemporary game development industry in terms of creating an open-world single-player experience. With their most recent release, Fallout 76, they attempted to dabble in the MMO space, and even after small improvements over the years, it is still a blemish in the company’s decorated portfolio.
Bethesda earned most of their longstanding fans by delivering sprawling open-worlds filled with intricate lore, memorable quests, and unforgettable characters. It seems like they are repeating their successful formula with their new IP.
Starfield is going to have a much larger scale compared to previous Bethesda titles, making full use of the next-gen hardware. Here's the official quote from Bethesda:
"In this next-generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom. Harnessing the power of next-gen technology and built on the all-new Creation Engine 2, Starfield takes you on a journey through space as you strive to answer humanity’s greatest mystery."
The sense of navigating the vast galaxy as a lone traveler will be further accentuated, thanks to the singleplayer-focused game design philosophy. In that regard, Bethesda head, Todd Howard, has stated:
“This is going to sound cliche, but I mean it. When you look up in the sky, there is this drive to know, what is out there? Are we alone? What are the origins of space and time and all of those things? What role does religion play in some of that as well? So, we do get into some big questions. I think a game like this is a good place to do that. There are movies and books that have done it as well, but we haven’t seen a game do it in this way. And we’ll see how successful we’ll be.”
Starfield is poised to be released on November 11, 2022.
