Ahead of its release next month, Bethesda has announced that its highly anticipated Xbox and PC exclusive title “Starfield” has gone ‘gold’ which means that the main development of the game has been completed and it’s ready for manufacturing.
Bethesda has also confirmed that players will be able to preload the game on Xbox Series X/S starting in a few hours on August 17th and on Steam on August 30th ahead of the title’s commercial release on September 6th.
The news comes as Bethesda Game Studios also held a Q&A on its Discord server this week with quest designer Will Shen and lead designer Emil Pagliarulo answering fan questions about the sci-fi action RPG.
Amongst the facts garnered (via IGN) is that the game will feature over 20 named characters that can join you as companions, each with their own backgrounds.
There are a couple of systems in place, such as Speech Challenges, to help those who want to avoid physical confrontations. There are mechs in the game, but you can’t use them as they’re leftovers from a prior war. You can also purchase property in all of the game’s major cities.
There are also three major religions – Sanctum Universum (monotheism), Enlightened (atheism), and Great Serpent (mysterious). The aesthetic of the game, which they dub ‘NASApunk,’ is one of a “very lived-in universe.”
The two designers have blended their passions – Shen is a history nerd, whilst Pagliarulo is a 70s/80s sci-fi fan of the likes of original “Battlestar Galactica” and “Buck Rogers” along with the writings of Arthur C. Clarke.
Pagliarulo explains: “In all of those examples, you realize that outer space is two things – a source of mystery and wonder, sometimes terror; and a giant blank page on which you can write any story. And we have written a lot of VERY different stories in Starfield.”
“Starfield,” which is seen as something of a make-or-break title for the future of Xbox, arrives on September 6th.
