Bethesda is in an interesting position with its original franchises. The company is in-between mainline Elder Scrolls games. Moreover, it has two separate MMOs set in its two main series, Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls: Online currently running. In general, the company’s central focus seems to be on these live service versions of its prestige series. Arguably, Starfield serves as an exciting jolt into creative space that is otherwise stagnant in terms of new IP. This new space-based RPG is risky in several ways, then. As Bethesda’s first original IP in over a decade, it needs to both differentiate itself and sate the appetite of a massive fandom. Furthermore, Starfield is also the first showing of Bethesda’s new creation engine, while competing in an increasingly saturated space.
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The Skyrim Problem
Unfortunately, any game that Bethesda develops has to live up to one towering behemoth, as Skyrim is the 19th best-selling game of all time. It retains its immense popularity to this day, with Skyrim mods playing a huge part in its longevity. Since its release, games looking to enter the open world RPG market inevitably draw comparisons to Bethesda’s titanic title. Starfield is an RPG of that scale (perhaps an even bigger one). The game is so similar to Skyrim that it will use the same world generation technique as the 2011 title. The Elder Scrolls 5 was built with procedural generation, and then illustrated later with lore and details. This allowed Bethesda to quickly create the shape of a huge world, and to spend much more time on the cities and settlements.
Starfield uses a similar technique to create its universe. While this is a smart way to fill out of a world with great speed, it will undoubtedly lead to direct comparisons with Skyrim. Although concerns that The Elder Scrolls 6 might not be as good as Skyrim are worrying for Bethesda, Starfield presents an even greater risk. The game releasing, and not being as good as Skyrim, is a very real risk. This worst-case scenario might imply that as a developer of single-player RPGs, Bethesda peaked over ten years ago. Games like Fallout 4, although successful, never received the same acclaim as the 2011 title.
Starfield Is The Next Generation Of Bethesda IPs
Not being as good as Starfield is not the only problem that Bethesda’s legacy bestows upon Starfield. As the first new IP from Bethesda in over two decades, the game will be a landmark for the company. In many ways, how Starfield is received will set the tone for the entire next generation of Bethesda’s intellectual properties, especially when Starfield seems to be making a few drastic moves away from typical Bethesda stylings. When considering how Starfield will change Bethesda’s games, the information that has leaked so far is incredibly important.
From a lot of the intricate detail seen in some the alleged Starfield screenshots, the game seems to be aiming at a very different tone and aesthetic for its space RPG. Todd Howard even visited Elon Musk to develop the game, and consulting with SpaceX for Starfield demonstrates a focus on realistic sci-fi. Howard has confirmed this, and has discussed the focus on how difficult space travel will be in the game. While competing sci-fi RPGs like The Outer Worlds often treat space flight like a form of fast travel, apparently Bethesda’s space outing will make the difficulty of such journeys a main focus.
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This move to a more hard sci-fi style of gameplay could be a huge move for the company, and it’ll be interesting to see if this philosophy has a longer lasting impact. The equivalent to “hard science fiction” for a franchise like The Elder Scrolls would be “low fantasy” - a style popularized recently by Game of Thrones. With George R.R. Martin working on Elden Ring, it would not be a surprise for Bethesda to pivot to a similar style of storytelling. This would be a huge shift for Starfield to make, and would unsurprisingly be a huge risk.
Will Starfield Be Worth It?
This is arguably the biggest concern for Bethesda’s newest IP. It not only has to prove itself within the company’s acclaimed backlog of titles, but also among the emergent set of science fiction exploration/RPG games that are taking the market by storm. While both Bethesda and Obsidian are owned by Microsoft, The Outer Worlds still stands as the prevailing peer to Starfield.
Another, less well-received competitor could be No Man’s Sky. While the game suffered from poor reception at launch due to a lackluster feature list, it has since been revitalized by Hello Games’ continual support and updates to the game. If Starfield hopes to bring a focus to the enormity of space in its mechanics, it will have to differentiate itself enough from Hello Games’ exploration of cosmic scale. Indeed, Starfield could learn a lot from No Man’s Sky and how it maintained its audience.
Although what scant information can be found about Starfield does seem promising, the game faces undeniable challenges. It remains to be seen if Bethesda’s newest IP in 20 years can make that gamble worth it. Beset on all sides, dealing with the weight of its creator’s legacy and competition from already popular games, Starfield has a lot of work to do. Of course, should the studio pull it off, it will be a very exciting change for Bethesda indeed.
Starfield is still in development.
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