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What is the release date of Starfield? It was officially supposed to be November 2022, but Bethesda announced a postponement of Starfield until 2023. Luckily, we still got a pretty decent preview of the new open-world game on the Xbox and Bethesda storefront over the summer. .
We haven’t really heard from the game since, which has left the Starfield community a bit thirsty for new information, but we’re confident Bethesda won’t keep us in the dark for too long. Whenever Starfield’s release date ends up being, it has the potential to be one of the best PC games of all time, so it should be worth the wait. Here’s what we know about Starfield so far.
Starfield release date
Starfield’s release date is set for the “first half” of 2023, with Microsoft’s Matt Booty indicating that it will release after Arkane’s Redfall. Starfield gets a standalone showcase, giving it a well-deserved solo deep dive and hopefully a concrete release date.
Originally, Starfield was supposed to be released on November 11, 2022, but in May 2022 Bethesda announced that the space game is now delayed to 2023. The release date has been reconfirmed by Starfield’s official support page, stating that the open-world game will be coming exclusively to Xbox and PC in the first half of 2023.
According to Bethesda, the Starfield release date will be announced very soon, with a “special game event” also on the horizon.
Starfield pre-order
Starfield is available for pre-order at select retailers. It’s currently available for pre-order through GAME in the UK and GameStop in the US.
Starfield Game Pass is also a thing; it’s coming to PC Game Pass (as well as Xbox Game Pass for console players), meaning you’ll have instant access to open-world play from day one. Game Pass subscribers don’t need to pre-order, and we imagine they’ll at least be able to pre-load Starfield ahead of release.
Is Starfield an Xbox exclusive?
Starfield will be an Xbox and PC exclusive, as Microsoft has reached a $7.5 billion deal to buy Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media.
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Xbox head Phil Spencer mentions his excitement for Bethesda’s upcoming games — “some announced and many unannounced,” including Starfield.


Starfield Game
The original Starfield trailer was released way back in 2018. Since then, we’ve received a June 2021 Starfield trailer and a much bigger gameplay showcase in June 2022.


Recently, we saw Starfield gameplay footage that shows how the dialogue and persuasion mechanics will work, along with some additional spaceflight clips with commentary from Todd Howard (video below). It also appeared that Starfield might have a survival mode, which is both delightful and a bit terrifying.
Starfield Features
The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 gave us an in-depth look at Starfield’s mechanics and systems. The gameplay demo begins on a bug-infested planet where the player mines iron from a cave before heading to the Kreet Research Lab. Here we find that the Crimson Fleet, one of Starfield’s many factions, is looting for treasure. These pirates are hostile, giving us the opportunity to see Starfield cannons in action, like the Grendel machine gun. Combat is a lot like Fallout 4, except there’s no VATS system to rely on.
After a briefing from the Starfield Constellation faction leader on an artifact we unearthed, we have a few introductions with the other faction leaders telling us what they represent. We also see more hostile aliens, dinosaur-like creatures with mandibles, eldritch horrors lurking in the hallways of an abandoned facility.
Game Director Todd Howard then reveals the character creation tool, as well as the many Starfield backgrounds and traits with which your astronaut can begin his journey through the cosmos. The gameplay gives us an insight into Starfield’s skills and a brief introduction to Starfield Research Laboratory’s projects.


If you’re curious what dialogue will look like in Starfield, we’ve got some (hopefully) reassuring details. First, the classic BGS silent protagonist returns, which is probably handy considering there are around 250,000 lines of dialogue in the game. You’ll also do your conversation in first person and choose from a number dialogue options that are presented as self-contained sentences. There’s a new persuasion system where you spend points in a series of linked exchanges in hopes of getting the desired outcome before staying longer than your welcome.
Finally, there’s a section dedicated to building Starfield base, including the ability to design and pilot your own starship. In addition to space combat, this spacecraft will come in handy for exploring the many Starfield planets in the known universe, more than 1,000 of them according to Howard. In an IGN developer interview with Howard, he confirms that Starfield does feature some procedural generation but that the Bethesda team “did more tinkering in this game, content-wise, than any other game.”
If you’re looking for additional insight into the space game world, Bethesda has also dropped some concept art for a few of the Starfield cities we’ll be able to visit, including the game’s largest colony, New Atlantis. Luckily, it looks like these big cities are just the highlights and there will be plenty of other towns and even a few smaller metropolises that you can visit. If you’re wondering how long Starfield is, we have a few theories about it you can check out.
Starfield multiplayer
Will Starfield have multiplayer? The short answer is no. The long answer is still no, but if you want proof, we point you to this 2020 Develop: Brighton Digital conference session where Todd Howard confirms that Starfield will be a single-player experience. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, Howard refers to Starfield’s multiplayer (or lack thereof) at around 45 minutes.
That’s all we know about the Starfield release date. The wait until November is still long and we can’t wait for more news on what could be one of the best PC games of all time. Be sure to check out our Starfield interview with a former Bethesda developer for more details regarding the scope of the project. We also have confirmation that the fan-favorite Elder Scrolls NPC is set to make a return to Starfield. Finally, check out the latest on The Elder Scrolls 6 and The Witcher 4, if you’re looking for more epic RPG games that haven’t been released yet.
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