Starfield: Release date, trailers, platforms & everything we know

Starfield marks the biggest Xbox Series X exclusive yet. Here’s what all the fuss is about.

If you’re one of the gamers that’s spent any time playing an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game, you’re likely plenty excited for Starfield.

Bethesda Game Studio’s first new IP in over twenty-five years, Starfield has been referred to as “Skyrim in space” by Game Director Todd Howard, and appears poised to consume all of our time when it lands in 2023.

After a few delays, though, the marketing cycle has been a little less smooth than Microsoft likely hoped when it purchased Bethesda, and as a result, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about.

Here’s everything you need to know about Starfield.

Is there a Starfield release date?

Bethesda/Microsoft

Yes, despite being delayed twice, we now know Starfield will be released on September 6, 2023.

Originally, Starfield was set to release on November 11, 2022 but was pushed back to 2023 along with Redfall.

Then, all the knowledge fans were given is that it will be coming in the first half of 2023 until March 8, 2023, when it was announced that the game would be delayed yet again, only this time a full release date was revealed.

Will Starfield be on PlayStation or Xbox Game Pass?

If you’re on Sony’s console, we have bad news — Starfield is launching as an Xbox Series S|X exclusive on console, and coming to PC. It seems a fair assumption that Elder Scrolls 6 will follow suit, but we don’t know for sure.

As a first-party title, it’ll come to Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass for PC on day one, too.

In a Bloomberg interview in 2020, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, said that the company would honor the contracts already in place for games like Deathloop and GhostWire Tokyo. Moving forward, though, Bethesda’s new releases would be exclusive to Xbox hardware and systems that support Xbox Game Pass.

in an interview with The Telegraph, Todd Howard discussed the decision to make Starfield an Xbox and PC exclusive. 

“You don’t ever want to leave people out, right? But at the end of the day, your ability to focus and say, this is the game I want to make, these are the platforms I want to make it on, and being able to really lean in on those is going to make for a better product.”

What is Starfield?

Bethesda/Microsoft

Starfield is a new RPG that takes players to the Settled Systems, a series of planets and space stations 50 light years from our own galaxy.

While we don’t have much to go on story-wise, players can expect first or third-person combat and exploration across a thousand planets — yes, that’s right, a thousand — spread throughout a hundred systems.

Players begin working for Constellation, a series of explorers dealing with the fallout (get it?) of a huge, universe-spanning war.

Bethesda/Microsoft

In true Bethesda Game Studios fashion, though, the narrative setup is very much a jumping-off point for letting players explore the galaxy at their own pace.

There are branching paths, multiple dialogue options, and even the chance to build your own spaceship in your image.

As you’d expect from the team behind Skyrim (or as we like to call it, the “sneaky archer simulator”), character builds will play a huge part in Starfield, too — with players able to select skills, set a series of traits when starting their adventure, and research new upgrades as they progress.

There are factions, too:

• United Colonies – a futuristic Space Republic (think NCR in Fallout New Vegas)
• Freestar Collective – a space western fantasy, people out on the frontier trying to survive (think Minutemen from Fallout 4)
• Ryujin Industries – which represents corporate life in space. Described as the “best start” for the player, but they’ll need to “apply for [their] job.”
• Crimson Fleet – Pirates and the game’s main villainous faction. The player can side with the pirates and spy on them. This lets them play for the bad faction while still remaining a good guy. Or the player can join the pirates fully.

Gameplay & trailers

Check out a chunky 15-minute slice of gameplay below, narrated by Todd Howard. The video showcases exploration, combat, and even the size of the game’s universe.

Believe it or not, the game was revealed back in 2018 with a short teaser which you can see below.

Is Starfield multiplayer?

If the idea of exploring a huge galaxy with friends appeals, we’re sorry to say that Starfield is single-player only.

Thankfully, No Man’s Sky and Elite Dangerous both offer multiplayer spacefaring adventures, so all is not lost.

So, there you have it. That’s everything we know about Starfield so far. For more on the biggest upcoming titles, be sure to check out the following:

GTA 6 | Assassin’s Creed Infinity | Wolverine | Spider-Man 2 | Forspoken | KOTR Remake | Wonder Woman | FFXVI | Avatar Frontiers of Pandora | Dragon Age 4