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Howard spoke with Eurogamer's Robert Purchese about his expectations for Starfield. Beyond it being a game that has gameplay systems and mechanics that he feels are "next-gen," the hardware that they are targeting isn't even out yet.
What, then, does Starfield being next-generation mean?
"That to us means two things," Todd Howard told me. "It does mean hardware and it does mean software on our side, and it also means gameplay - what does the next generation of epic single-player RPGs feel like to us?
"What systems we put it out on - what's the hardware requirements - is still to be determined. We're pushing it; we're thinking very, very far in future so we're building something that will handle next-generation hardware. That's what we're building on right now, that's where our mind is, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't exist on the current systems as well."
"That to us means two things," Todd Howard told me. "It does mean hardware and it does mean software on our side, and it also means gameplay - what does the next generation of epic single-player RPGs feel like to us?
"What systems we put it out on - what's the hardware requirements - is still to be determined. We're pushing it; we're thinking very, very far in future so we're building something that will handle next-generation hardware. That's what we're building on right now, that's where our mind is, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't exist on the current systems as well."
Howard went on to say that Starfield will still be recognizable as a game developed by Bethesda even with all of the new systems they hope to add to the gameplay. He says that the studio has been discussing ideas for Starfield as far back as 2004 but only began to dedicated people to development after Fallout 4 came out in 2015.
It's very important to remember that The Elder Scrolls VI is said to be coming after Starfield is out. I keep seeing people expecting a new Elder Scrolls within the next year or two and that just simply isn't going to happen if Starfield is being developed with future console hardware in mind that hasn't even been announced yet.
