IGN just shared some of the most important bits from a lengthy interview with Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard in which they talk about everything from Starfield to Fallout 5. I guess that means Fallout 5 is officially announced now? Seems that way.
Howard says that "Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production and, you know, we're going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate's pretty full going forward for a while." It seems like he's more confirming what everyone assumed, that Bethesda would make a new Fallout after a new Elder Scrolls. I suppose that was a fairly safe assumption.
During the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase this past weekend, we learned that Starfield will have 1,000 fully explorable planets. Most of that explorable area is going to be procedurally generated, of course, and probably absent of any meaningful content. Still, Howard says that Starfield includes more handcrafted content than any prior Bethesda game.
The main quest of Starfield is said to be 20% "bigger" than previous Bethesda games. There are apparently a fair number of additional quests in the main story when compared to their other titles. Howard says that a completion of the main quest should take players anywhere from 30 to 40 hours to complete.
Despite there being 1,000 planets in Starfield, there will be just four major cities. One is called New Atlantis and is said to be the biggest city that Bethesda has ever made. New Atlantis is the capital city of the United Colonies.
"It has all the services you would expect, and you can work on your ship there, the factions touch that. But that’s also the headquarters for Constellation, which is the faction that you join that is the last group of space explorers – kind of this NASA-meets-Indiana Jones-meets-The League of Extraordinary Gentleman [group]."
Howard says that this feature is "really just not that important to the player." He continues, "We decided early in the project that the on-surface is one reality, and then when you're in space it's another reality." I'll say what we're all thinking: That's lame. That's super lame that you can't seamlessly fly between space and a planet's surface. I feel like this has more to do with a limitation of their game engine than any other factor.
The space combat is said to be inspired by games like FTL and MechWarrior. You can also steal ships that you board.
In case you missed the Starfield gameplay presentation during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, you can find that video below. Starfield will be out in 2023 for Xbox Series X|S and PC. It's also available day one with Game Pass.
The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
