Bethesda’s Starfield officially released yesterday after about a week of early access availability. Director Todd Howard and Xbox CEO Phil Spencer recently answered a few questions about the new game in a recent interview. Among them was why the game does not feature any ground vehicles, which Howard says was a deliberate creative decision.
Starfield’s director talks about vehicles, PC performance, and more
Talking to Bloomberg Technology, Howard explained that Bethesda considered implementing Ground vehicles in Starfield. However, he says that the studio thought it was important that players travel on foot after stepping out of their ship. This way, developers know how fast players are seeing things and can design the game around that. He also said that vehicles would have changed the gameplay too much. Still, as Howard pointed out, Bethesda’s Starfield gives players both a ship and a jetpack, which are vehicles in a sense.
The interviewers also raised questions regarding Starfield’s PC performance, Xbox exclusivity, and more. When asked, Howard rejected the idea that Bethesda did not optimize the Game for PC. He said Starfield is a current-gen game, and some users may need to upgrade their PCs to play it. A bit later, one of the hosts asked about competition from games like Baldur’s Gate. Howard didn’t address Larian Studios’ game directly but said that Bethesda expects people to play Starfield for many years.
Bloomberg Technology also had some questions for Phil Spencer, primarily focusing on the business side of things. According to Spencer, Starfield is the most-played current-gen Xbox exclusive, including thousands of players on Game Pass. It is also Bethesda’s most wish-listed game on Steam. However, he declined to say whether The Elder Scrolls 6 will be Xbox and PC exclusive as well.
