Bethesda has announced that their highly anticipated RPG Starfield and vampiric first person shooter Redfall have both been delayed from 2022. Both games will now launch in the first half of 2023.
An update on Redfall and Starfield. pic.twitter.com/pqDtx26Uu6
— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 12, 2022
“The teams at Arkane Austin (Redfall) and Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) have incredible ambitions for their games, and we want to ensure that you receive the best, most polished versions of them,” they write on Twitter.
“We want to thank everyone for their excitement for Redfall and Starfield. That energy is a huge part of what inspires all of us every day and drive our excitement for what we are creating.”
This means that Microsoft and Bethesda have had to give up on the alluringly simple 11/11/22 Starfield release date that they had announced back at E3 2021. Setting a firm release date such as this over a year away, and doing this for a Bethesda Game Studios game with their reputation for buggy releases has (unsurprisingly) ended up with egg all over someone’s face. Honestly, you don’t even need hindsight to realise that this was a dumb decision.
Both Starfield (originally announced in 2018) and Redfall had their main announcements and unveilings at E3 2021, both games targeting 2022 and both games set to be major first party exclusives for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC and part of Xbox Game Pass. They were exactly the kinds of game that you expect Microsoft wanted when they bought up Bethesda in early 2021, and making them exclusive was a key factor as well.
The last year has seen Bethesda drip feed little details and moments from Starfield, from locations and robotic companions to touchable coffee cups, however, Redfall has had practically nothing since last June’s annoucement. Coming from Arkane Austin, it’s a four player co-op shooter with an open world setting.
While neither game will be coming out this year, it’s pretty likely that they will still feature within the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase on 12th June, a part of the Summer Games Fest that is replacing the cancelled E3 2022. It’s here that the twinned companies will lay out their actual plans for the rest of 2022 and make more announcements and reveals for the years to come. They’ve just decided to get the bad news out of the way early.
Source: Twitter
TSBonyman
I don’t know if the presentations they’ve given so far are representative of the work they’ve done so far (one would hope not as it’s all been concept art) but based on what they’ve shown so far i’m not surprised at the delay.