E3 2021: Starfield Revealed, Release Date Announced

Microsoft kicked off their E3 showcase today with our first look at Starfield, the highly anticipated new IP from Bethesda Game Studios. They also announced that the game would be releasing exclusively on Xbox and PC on November 11, 2022. It will also be available on Game Pass day one when it releases.

The in-engine trailer for the game didn’t give us much more information on what Starfield actually is, and was instead more of a tone setter. Set on an unknown planet, we saw an astronaut enter their ship and prep it for launch. At the same time, a woman narrated and talked about our mission and what we’re doing for Constellation, one of the factions in the game. It concluded with the game’s release date appearing on one of the ship’s consoles.

Heading over to the Starfield website offers bit more information about what we can expect from the game, revealing that it’ll retain the character customization that is standard in Bethesda Game Studios projects. It will also allow players to “explore with unparalleled freedom” as we search to “answer humanity’s greatest mystery.” Speaking to The Washington Post, Todd Howard also described the game as being like “Skyrim in space.”

Despite today’s reveal, much about Starfield remains a mystery. We still don’t know exactly how it’ll be play, what the world is like, or really any specifics about the story. Even still, what was shown today is enough to get people excited and eager to see more from the company. Starting the show off with it definitely cemented just how important Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda is to the tech giant and their future in the gaming space. It’s certainly going to fuel a number of Xbox console sales in the coming year, as well as Game Pass subscriptions as people do what they can to get their hands on the game when it comes out next Fall. It may be some time before we see Starfield again, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer to get another, deeper look at this brand new IP from Bethesda.