Release date delays for major video games are nothing new, but there’s one studio that has built a reputation for releasing games on time. For the past decade, Bethesda Game Studios has almost never delayed any of its games after a release date was announced, but that streak was broken withStarfield. TheStarfieldrelease date was originally scheduled for July 31, 2025, but it has since been pushed back to an undetermined point in early 2023.
TheStarfieldrelease date delaycame as a surprise for a couple of different reasons. For one, Bethesda previously indicated that it was confident thatStarfieldwould meet its planned release date. And for two, Bethesda rarely ever delays its games. Going through the history of Bethesda Game Studios, there aren’t many examples of the company delaying one of its games after the release date is announced, though it’s happened before.
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The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Bethesda’s first game under the Bethesda Game Studios banner, was delayed prior to its release. And then when the PC version ofMorrowindcame out, the Xbox version of the game suffered another delay. So while Bethesda has a reputation nowadays for almost ever delaying its games, its very first project was actually delayed.
The same thing happened withThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. At one point in time,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwas meant to release in November 2005 as an Xbox 360 launch title. However, the game was eventually delayed, with its release date pushed back to March 2006. It seemsStarfieldmay be finding itself in a similar position asOblivion, especially if Bethesda is releasing the game in the first half of 2023 as expected.
AfterOblivion, Bethesda mostly avoided delays, releasing titles likeThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim,Fallout 4, andFallout 76on time. One reason why Bethesda is able to accomplish this, though, is that it typically waits to reveal games until they’re fairly close to release. As some may recall,Fallout 4wasn’t revealed until E3 2015, and then it was released later that same year.Starfieldis an outlier in that its release date was announced over a year before the game’s planned launch, and it was revealed with aCG trailer at E3 2021as opposed to the gameplay fans were treated to duringFallout 4’s big unveiling.
Reports indicate thatsomeStarfielddevs were worried the game would be anotherCyberpunk, so the delay is likely for the best. In the meantime, fans may finally get to see more ofStarfieldat the Xbox showcase on June 12, where the game is expected to be a centerpiece of the event.
Starfieldis in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
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