Bethesda has a history of creating long games that are meant to be explored and enjoyed for several years. The studio’s latest release, Starfield, is no different, with the team spending 8 years to craft a detailed and extensive RPG.
Starfield now holds the title of Bethesda’s biggest launch to date, reaching over 10 million players weeks after release. However, like past Bethesda games, its journey is expected to continue for many years to come.
In a recent interview, Todd Howard has expanded on this idea, claiming that Starfield was made to be played for a long time.
Why it matters: This aspect of the game allows it to stand out compared to the competition. While many games offer hundreds of hours of content, only a few can claim to have the appeal to keep players coming back years later.
Speaking to Ted Price from Insomniac Games, Todd Howard reflected on the history of Bethesda and how the team’s past projects encouraged the studio to aim for an RPG that would offer content for many years.
He stated that Skyrim and Fallout were clear indications that people spent many years in such immersive RPGs, and this became a driving force behind many of the decisions made during Starfield’s development. Todd Howard said:
“Starfield was the most intentional, going into it, that this is a game people are going to play for a long time. “
He further elaborated that the previous experience allowed the team to look ahead, planning for the game’s state several years from release.
Bethesda was already aware that Starfield would remain popular for three or even five years. This awareness allowed the studio to prepare for new content, modding, and more eventual additions to the RPG.
The director also compared the RPG to live service games, claiming that this genre has games that have been played for many years.
However, RPGs like Starfield are able to compete with such games thanks to nearly endless amounts of content, modding support, and official DLC releases from the studio.
Todd Howard’s interview with Ted Price has revealed several other details about Bethesda’s approach to the development of its latest game.
Among other things, the director revealed that the difficulty of space combat was intentionally toned down to accommodate player fun above all else, allowing players of all skill levels to deal with the AI without much trouble.
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