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[xrnzaaas]

Starfield would be a buggy mess even a year later, it's Bethesda after all.

If the rumors about the state of the game are true then they should delay it even if it means another weak year for new games. I think it's too early to say anything from our perspective, we haven't even seen a long unscripted gameplay yet.

 

[chromatic9]

We won't know.

If some people involved can take a step back and see it's in bad shape then yes they should. It will get deservedly hit with bad reviews and bad word of mouth.

All depends to what degree the game is playable, enjoyable. Is the jank a minor annoyance or can be overlooked to a great game with huge scope that's fun to be in like some of their previous games or is it a fairly dull and broken game.

The bits I've seen show a very interesting game with lots of nice looking worlds and graphics. Striking a good gameplay balance in a space is going to be difficult. I'm confident it will get good reviews 8-10s and be very popular.

 

[GymWolf]

They should take all the time they need but:

A: all the time is still not gonna be enough to have a bugfree experience in a game like this.

B: more time is not gonna change the core features of the game so if combat, writing etc. Are be bad, more time is not gonna change that.

More time is not gonna transform a 7 into a 9,5-10/10

 

[PillsOff]

No. They will have 12 more month to code even buggier version of this game

 

[Tsaki]

If the game is sufficiently ready to release this year and they decide not to because of comparisons with TotK, then they'll lose massively this holiday period against a PS5 "slim" and Spiderman 2. November and December are the most important months of the year for consoles and they really can't afford leaving Sony uncontested. Of course what I said is only applicable if the game is ready. If it's not, then delay away. It'd be funny though to delay it and launch right when Switch 2 comes out.

 

[SJRB]

Without knowing the actual current state of the game, how the fuck can anyone answer this?

 

[Liamario]

Without knowing the actual current state of the game, how the fuck can anyone answer this?

Exactly. I appreciate Bethesda has a history, but until we know the state of the game it's a little premature to suggest delaying it.

 

[Markio128]

No, that release date is now set in asteroid.

 

[yurinka]

I think it depends on the state of the game. I think it's super important for them that it releases with great quality and in a very polished state. MS and Bethesda can't afford another Fallout 76 launch / Elder Scrolls Online launch / Redfall launch.

If it's another mediocre game released half broken, very unpolished and buggy their credibility will be heavily affected and will heavily affect the hype on their future titles like ESVI.

If the quality is great and the game is polished enough, then should be released this year. If not, should be delayed whatever they need to get it in a good quality and polished state.

 

[kyussman]

I'd say 2025 if they want a nicely polished game......2026 if they want a bug free launch.

 

[baphomet]

They absolutely should, but they can't.

The difference in the amount of sales between a broken game on game pass and a hugely delayed game on game pass isn't big enough for them to face another 6+ months of ridicule for not releasing games.

 

[FunkMiller]

They certainly can’t put out a janky, bug filled game like they usually do. Stakes are too high this time around, after the Redfall disaster and Phil’s recent comments.

 

[Gen.Grievous]

They don't really need to on PC. Modders will fix it for them if it's a buggy mess but for the sake of the Xbox Series consoles they really need to nail it. If that means delaying it to the holidays or spring 2024 they definitely should. They have been working on this game since 2016 so what is another 6-9 months.

 

[SABRE220]

Depends if it is in a terrible state then they absolutely must delay it. They simply cannot afford to send out another broken mess after redfall the brand reputation is at an all time low, In that scenario delaying would be the less damaging option by far not like us xbox hopefuls arent used to waiting... on the other hand if it is relatively buggy like most aaa releases not broken but some bugs and small performance issues...they might aswell launch it and fix it later since this is a bethesda release...its never going to launch in a pristine technical state, these are the devs that literally never bothered to fix their games on oblivion etc and waiting for modders to do it for them with oblivion unofficial patch etc.

 

[BosmerCulter]

I seem to recall Heisenberg asked his sources if it was in good shape after the redfall disaster and all they sent back was a hysterical laughing gif. Which suggests not. Other rumours have suggested it’s not in good shape either. If that is indeed the case then they should 100% push it to next year.

For me i just want a great game. I love the bethesda games of old, and I love sci fi. I don’t want them to make a mess of it.

Then for microsoft, yeah the pr will be bad to delay again. But not that bad. It would be way worse to launch it in a state similar to redfall, either that being riddled with bugs or just disappointing due to features cut from lack of time or polish on gameplay systems. There was a rumour a while back they’d brought in IDTech people to help on the gunplay, I hope that’s true.

I'm new here but I often see people taking what this guy (Heisenberg) says for granted. Is it really a reliable source?

 

[MasterCornholio]

I'm new here but I often see people taking what this guy (Heisenberg) says for granted. Is it really a reliable source?

He's vetted and he does have connections. With that said he isn't a crazy fanboy either.

I usually trust him and I don't believe he would ever make things up. With that said I always take rumors with a grain of salt as things can change really quickly.

HeisenbergFX4 gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[fermcr]

While I have no love lost for Microsoft and Xbox, I do love Bethesda, and every single game they have put out has been my favorite for that year going all the way back to Daggerfall (yes norms, I've been on board the BGS train since before you fuckers knew they existed)

I am obviously really very excited for Starfield, but I am also not wondering if it might not be smart to delay it out of this year into the next:

They need to hit a higher level of polish than they usually do

Bethesda games usually launch with a lot of jank and lack of polish, and they always got a free pass for this. This made sense back in the day; back in the day, open world games were pretty rare to begin with, and Bethesda's games had unmatched scope, interactivity, and design that the jank felt like a fair trade-off for. However, in the last decade, open world games have not only become dime a dozen (literally every game now seems to be open world), but the scope and polish of open worlds has evolved massively too. When you are releasing games like Elden Ring, Ghost of Tsushima, and especially Tears of the Kingdom, with massive open worlds and almost no jank (in the latter's case in spite of an insane amount of interactivity) . At this point we have seen a lot of great open worlds of all types (story focus? RDR2 and TW3. Combat focus? Elden Ring. Adventure and exploration focus? BOTW and TOTK. Ubisoft style template done with extremely high levels of polish and quality? Horizon and Ghost of Tsushima). Bethesda jank is harder to ignore now.

This is an important game

Starfield is Bethesda's first new IP launch in decades. It is their first single player game in eight years. It is their first game since Fallout 76 and Fallout 4, which have been considered disappointments to different events (unfairly for Fallout 4, but I get it). This game is important for Bethesda to show they still have the "it" factor they used to back in the day.

This is, of course, also an important game for Xbox. Starfield will be their first shot at a Zelda/God of War style killer app. And sure, it would suck for Xbox's 2023 if the game got delayed out of this year, but it will suck even worse for Xbox if it launches broken, incomplete, or buggy (look at Redfall or Halo Infinite). They won't get many more second chances. Take the time to do it right.

The elephant in the room sucking up all the oxygen

Let's be honest, a BGS game release should be an event, but there is an 800 pound gorilla in the room sucking up all the oxygen, and that's TOTK. Everything this year will be compared to TOTK. Critics and media will get into contests to see who can get most hyperbolic and contrived with their praise for it and comparisons with it. This happens every year - in 2022 it was Elden Ring. In 2017 it was BOTW. In 2015 it was Witcher 3. In 2013 it was TLOU.

Starfield should command everyone's attention when it comes out. It should be an event launch that is celebrated on its own merits, rather than constantly being compared to TOTK. Get some distance from the TOTK release, and launch in 2024, when it can get the benefit of polish and also be appreciated for being great on its own terms, rather than constantly being compared to Zelda.

So all of this is to say, I think they should delay it out of this year. It will suck in the short term, but I think this is what is best for the game's long term prospects, and for BGS, and even Xbox.

We haven't seen anything about the game in over a year. Your post makes little sense.
At least wait for the showcase ...

... but lets face it. Starfield can have the best showcase ever, and yet there will always be people unhappy about the game for some reason.

 

[k_trout]

i would imagine most of bethesdas audience don't care about how Totk reviewed
so less 800lb gorilla, more like 10oz amiibo

 

[KungFucius]

Yes. Delay it to the point they can release it without a required day one patch. The game should be in excellent working condition. All games should be in excellent working condition and completely playable without frustration without requiring day one patches.

Games go gold about a month prior to release. Why wouldn't you want a patch that has 1 month worth of fixes? Do you just mean the few cases where the patch is mandated?

I get it that it is annoying to download a big patch for a new game, but the best I could see them doing is put the patch out day -1 and make it part of the digital download and available for preload for physical users who still have to wait to install the game from disk.

 

[salva]

Like others, makes no sense trying to answer this without seeing the current state.
Wait for the showcase before gaf bitch and moans

 

[8BiTw0LF]

The 30fps defence force will be strong on this one - almost as strong as with TOTK.

 

[DenchDeckard]

If it needs delaying, delay it...if it's in good working order for a bethesda game then ship it!

 

[KungFucius]

How the hell should we know? We have no idea on the state of that game.

Phil Spencer already said there was no reality where Starfield starts changing the minds of gamers, and I took that as lowering expectations.
There's also the chance that the game simply won't be that good by design, and will never become great no matter how long it stays in development.

That was not him trying to lower expectations. It was him saying that no matter how good any 1 game is, it will not cause many PS5 owners to run out and buy an Xbox. Most console gamers cannot afford to buy into another platform and will not do that because of internet hype.

It is bizarre that people think it was about the quality of the game and not the obvious fact that buying a whole additional platform for any game alone is not something any competent gaming executive would expect or want shareholders to expect.

 

[Robb]

If they need to, they should.

But hopefully polishing the game was the reason for the latest delay, so hopefully they’ll manage to iron most major things out.

 

[mdkirby]

He's vetted and he does have connections. With that said he isn't a crazy fanboy either.

I usually trust him and I don't believe he would ever make things up. With that said I always take rumors with a grain of salt as things can change really quickly.

HeisenbergFX4 gets a thumbs up from me.

Yah from what I’ve seen over the years he’s always pretty balanced, doesn’t break anyone’s confidence to clout chase (ie he doesn’t do any actual direct leaks), just delivers little nuggets of insight from time to time, and or corroborating things, and doing so from a vetted position, so there’s a fair degree of trust. There’s also a usual degree of vagueness to his commentary, which is important for people who aren’t actually bullshitting as it protects the confidence of people they know. For instance the reply he got regarding starfield itself is in itself vague and open to interpretation.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Yah from what I’ve seen over the years he’s always pretty balanced, doesn’t break anyone’s confidence to clout chase (ie he doesn’t do any actual direct leaks), just delivers little nuggets of insight from time to time, and or corroborating things, and doing so from a vetted position, so there’s a fair degree of trust. There’s also a usual degree of vagueness to his commentary, which is important for people who aren’t actually bullshitting as it protects the confidence of people they know. For instance the reply he got regarding starfield itself is in itself vague and open to interpretation.

Pretty much and he doesn't engage in dumb fanboy stuff that some insiders do. It makes it easier to trust what he gives us.

But as I said earlier always with a grain of salt.

 

[StealthGoblin]

If it isn’t ready and will be buggy at launch, delay it.

They’ve got Forza, Hellblade and some 3rd party exclusives this year.

 

[mcjmetroid]

I would be shocked SHOCKED if this game doesn't turn out to be a disaster in some shape or another.

The question I'm having is is it going to be Fallout 76 levels of disaster?

Problem now is all eyes are on this game, it's been put up as the last chance the Xbox brand has and it's a Bethesda game...... let that sink in.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The 30fps defence force will be strong on this one - almost as strong as with TOTK.

TOTK has a really good excuse for being 30 fps with frequent drops into the 20's.

It's for the Switch. I shouldn't have to remind anyone that the Switch has a total system power of roughly 0.4 terror-phlops.

What's Starfield's excuse gonna be, when it's for a home console which reportedly has a mighty claimed 12 terror-phlops of ultra-grunty system power, even more than the PS5?

 

[MasterCornholio]

TOTK has a really good excuse for being 30 fps with frequent drops into the 20's.

It's for the Switch. I shouldn't have to remind anyone that the Switch has a total system power of roughly 0.4 terror-phlops.

What's Starfield's excuse gonna be, when it's for a home console which reportedly has a mighty claimed 12 terror-phlops of ultra-grunty system power, even more than the PS5?

Hopefully the next one is BC. Would be great to play games like Pokemon at a rock solid framerate though BC.

Mentioned Pokemon because the games terrible performance is why I haven't bought it yet. ToTK seems better to me though and acceptable.

 

[gooner4life_uk]

If they want to wrap up the xbox brand then yeah delay it, they need to polish it and get it out the door ASAP to have any hope of fixing the mess they're in.

 

[Little Mac]

I want to say "IDK" because I haven't played the game but let's be honest ... this is a Todd Howard game we are talking about. His games always launch with a considerable amount of jank and bugs. Doesn't mean the game won't eventually be amazing after a few patches. But that's the problem, after Redfall, and during a significant drought of quality xbox exclusives, every title MS releases is going to be held under a microscope until a constant stream of quality games are released that justify past and future xbox purchases. Unless it's an 10/10 ... delay it. Releasing rubbish like Redfall is hurting the xbox brand.

 

[StueyDuck]

If it's broken... yes.

If it works... no

 

[plip.plop]

Even if it drops 30fps. I'm still going to play it. Like all Bethesda games, the story will be great, and the amount of hidden content will create numerous playthroughs. Modders will take it to the next level. Hopefully, MS/Bethesda bring those mods to the console version quickly.

 

[Ic3man]

If it needs more time, sure.

 

[Brigandier]

I think they should release it when it's ready... If it's not ready for the current release date push it to Nov/Dec this year and see from there.

I feel MS really need this game to be a huge hit and there are many people who can't wait to slaughter MS if it's buggy and glitchy, This is also a Bethesda game lol their nickname should be bugsy so I'm voting Yes on this one.

 

[hemo memo]

Starfield or any Bethesda game really need a year and a half minimum before release just for polish.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I don’t see a sane person trying to compare Zelda to Starfield. Two totally different experiences on different platforms.

Starfield shouldn’t be delayed unless it needs a month or two of extra polish.

 

[Mephisto40]

email toddhoward420noscope@microsofts.com

 

[hemo memo]

I don’t see a sane person trying to compare Zelda to Starfield. Two totally different experiences on different platforms.

Starfield shouldn’t be delayed unless it needs a month or two of extra polish.

IGN would probably do that comparison after release.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Do you know something about Starfield’s development the rest of us don’t know?

And it’s already been delayed almost a full year.

 

[Badlucktroll]

If they release it all fucked up like Cyberpunk was or Redfall i think thats it for Xbox. I hope they are polishing the fuck out of it

 

[ToTTenTranz]

That was not him trying to lower expectations. It was him saying that no matter how good any 1 game is, it will not cause many PS5 owners to run out and buy an Xbox. Most console gamers cannot afford to buy into another platform and will not do that because of internet hype.

It is bizarre that people think it was about the quality of the game and not the obvious fact that buying a whole additional platform for any game alone is not something any competent gaming executive would expect or want shareholders to expect.

Nah man, he was lowering expectations.

If they truly believed Starfield was poised to become at least as successful as Skyrim (30M copies sold before all the special editions, Switch and VR ports), to the point of becoming a culture phenomenon, he wouldn't be waving a white flag like that.

On top of that there's no news about idSoftware (Doom) since 2020, Machine Games (Wolfenstein) since 2019 and Roundhouse since their conception. Phil conveniently left those three out, as if all they had to show in the foreseeable future is Starfield. Because that's probably the case.

 

[baphomet]

Do you know something about Starfield’s development the rest of us don’t know?

And it’s already been delayed almost a full year.

And the reliable rumors are that it needs another year.

 

[MMaRsu]

We dont even know where its at right now

 

[MMaRsu]

And the reliable rumors are that it needs another year.

lol from whom

 

[Spaceman292]

Yes. Delay it to the point they can release it without a required day one patch. The game should be in excellent working condition. All games should be in excellent working condition and completely playable without frustration without requiring day one patches.

Also every copy should come with the sequel to the game already in there and a free unicorn

 

[Spaceman292]

It's gonna release fucked up no matter how much time you give it. The most recent official release of Skyrim is still relatively fucked up.

It's probably gonna be a fun game. Lots of wanker YouTubers will make dull video essays on how disappointing it is, along with plenty of glitch compilation videos. Same routine.

 

[RoboFu]

TOTK is not it. It's only available on a Nintendo platform and is not as mainstream as GTA 6.

Dumb take.. it sold 10 million copies already on the highest selling console of all time.


As for starfield. No .. the games going to be buggy but it’s going to sale. There is a huge fan base there for fallout and ES that will gobble it up.

 

[Methos#1975]

Hypothetically if the game is still in a bad state a year later after the delay from Nov, it's doubtful another delay would improve issues.