Starfield, the next big RPG from Elder Scrolls and Fallout developers Bethesda, has been delayed from a 2022 release into 2023, the company just announced.
Originally pencilled in for a November 2022 release on PC and Xbox consoles, it will now be out in the “first half of 2023". It has been joined by Redfall, the vampire shooter from Arkane Austin, which was supposed to be out sometime in the Summer on the same platforms.
Bethesda issued a short statement on both delays, saying:
We’ve made the decision to delay the launches of Redfall and Starfield to the first half of 2023.
The teams at Arkane Austin (Redfall) and Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) have incredible ambitions for their games, and we want to ensure that you receive the best, most polished versions of them.
We want to thank everyone for their excitement for Redfall and Starfield. That energy is a huge part of what inspires all of us every day and drives our own excitement for what we are creating.
We can’t wait to share our first deep dive into the gameplay for both Redfall and Starfield soon. Thank you for your support.
The last we saw of Starfield was a whole eight seconds of it back in March, when Ethan said:
Unless it gets delayed, Xbox console exclusive Starfield will be out November 11. That said, we still haven’t really seen Bethesda’s next game outside of last year’s cinematic trailer and a bevy of concept art.
Turns out yeah, there was a very good reason we’d barely seen anything from the game. We still don’t know too much about it, outside of what was revealed a couple of months back, which if you missed it included:
- Oblivion’s mini-game for persuading NPCs is coming back in some form
- Four factions you can deal with: United Colonies, Freestar Collective, Ryujin Industries, and Crimson Fleet
- Siding with the United Colonies space cops won’t stop you from also helping the Crimson Fleet pirates
- Deeper character trait and background customization
- More realistic looking NPCs
Update: 5/12/22, 1:45 p.m. ET: Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer weighed in specifically on the delay saying he supports giving teams more time but understands fans’ frustrations:
Currently, there’s no other Xbox first-party exclusives on the books for 2022.