The internet is abuzz with details about Starfield and Fallout 5 it seems. One of the topics I expect to see a lot of buzz surrounding for the next several months – the other … not so much. Either way, Todd Howard sat down in an interview and gave us a lot of details about the upcoming new IP for Bethesda with information about Starfield‘s main quest and also hinted at a possible timeline for Fallout 5 – but you might not like it.
Will anyone even remember Fallout 5?
We’ll start with the smaller (or bigger, possibly) bit of news: Fallout 5 is coming, but it won’t be for a while. Todd Howard, in an interview with IGN, stated that Fallout 5 will be coming after Elder Scrolls 6 launches, which is still in “pre-production” according to Bethesda’s executive producer. What does this mean for timelines? Well, many expect Elder Scrolls 6 to still be a long way off. Like 2027, according to PCGamer.
If that’s the case, then we can realistically expect a 2030 or, more likely, 2035 release for Fallout 5. By then, though, will there even be a market for the game? Who knows? It’s possible that Microsoft will task inXile or Obsidian to make some form of a Fallout-style game to keep the franchise alive since we’re likely looking at a decade or more before the next big IP update, though only time will tell if that’ll happen.
Starfield main quest and primary city are Bethesda’s biggest yet
Enough about Fallout – now let’s take a look at the game I’ve been waiting for what seems like years to launch: Starfield. Todd confirmed quite a few more interesting tidbits about the upcoming sci-fi adventure game that we got an in-depth look at this weekend. To start with, the game has “more handcrafted content than any Bethesda game” as well as now leverages a procedural galaxy, à la No Man’s Sky.
The moment that I’ve been waiting for has nothing to do with the handcrafted content, however. It’s the main quest, and it’s a big one. The main quest for Starfield is said to be about 20% larger than previous Bethesda games such as Skyrim and Fallout 4, with Todd saying that it should take around 30 to 40 hours to complete … without doing any side content, according to the interview. Todd went on to say that “this one’s ending up a little bit longer [than our previous games] and we may tune that some still. It’s more quests, so it might be 20% more than our previous ones.” I’m completely on board for this because the biggest thing I want out of Starfield is a solid single-player experience, and it seems that’ll be just what we get.
Not only that, but of the four main cities, New Atlantis is the largest city that Bethesda has ever made. The capital city for the United Colonies doesn’t just mark the largest city in the game but also beats out every title the developer has released in the past. This means there’s a lot to do, and a lot to explore in New Atlantis, and I just can’t wait.
We still don’t have a date set in stone for when Starfield will release now that it’s been delayed until next year, but with all the new information surrounding the main quest, I’m more excited now than ever before for its inevitable launch. And I’m also completely okay with it being delayed if that means we get a more polished title at the end.
9to5Toys’ Take
While we might not see Fallout 5 for over a decade, Starfield’s launch is inevitably close. It was originally slated to come toward the end of this year, but development has bumped it back until next year, and like I said, I’m fine with that. I don’t want another Cyberpunk 2077 fiasco where players want a game so bad the developer releases it with all kinds of issues that could have been solved with a few more months (or years) of development. I would rather return to a time when we get a whole, complete game that’s playable on day one instead of something that needs patch after patch after patch with microtransactions out the wazoo in order to have a fully fleshed-out game. That’s just not fun anymore.
I’m glad Microsoft and Bethesda are taking their time on Starfield, especially given the size of the main quest. And, while I really want to play it, I’m more than fine waiting for it to come out, especially if we keep seeing more content about it as the launch date draws closer.
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