After almost a year since it was delayed into the first half of 2023, Xbox and Bethesda have finally confirmed that Starfield will release on Xbox Series X/S and PC on September 6, 2023. This announcement comes almost five years after the reveal of Starfield at Bethesda's 2018 E3 conference, and the game will release around the third anniversary of Microsoft's announcement of its acquisition of Bethesda and its parent studio ZeniMax Media.

Last year, Microsoft positioned Starfield as the closing title of its Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, with the game's director, Todd Howard, taking up the last ten minutes of the show to finally reveal gameplay for the long anticipated new IP from Bethesda Game Studios. At the time however, Starfield's inclusion in the showcase came alongside a major promise from Xbox regarding every game in the showcase, one that Starfield's delay beyond June 2023 has broken.

Xbox's Promise During The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase
During the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, immediately after revealing Hollow Knight: Silksong, Xbox's Corporate Vice President Sarah Bond revealed that every game featured in the almost 90-minute showcase would release within 12 months from the showcase's airing. At the time, many fans were stunned by this bold assertion, given how common video game delays have become with the tumultuous and often shifting standards of modern game development culture. For Microsoft to put such a firm stake in the ground during such a big showcase felt as if the company was setting itself up for failure.

At the time, this claim came with some uncertainty. For one, there was some confusion whether this applied to Team Cherry's long anticipated sequel to its breakout 2018 Metroidvania hit Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong. A Tweet from Xbox later confirmed that this claim did include the long delayed indie game, which was also confirmed to launch into Xbox Game Pass. Secondly, this claim didn't include announcements like the reveal of Hideo Kojima's partnership with Xbox, which both parties claim is still a long ways off completion. With that in mind, it was fair to assume that everything else would release before the end of June 2023.

Until now, this claim surprisingly continued to hold true. Games featured in Microsoft's showcase such as A Plague Tale: Requiem, High on Life, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, have indeed already released within 12 months of the showcase. Others, such as Redfall and Diablo 4, already have seemingly locked in release dates for May and June, respectively. For some titles however, such as Forza Motorsport, Ark 2, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Lightyear Frontier, the release dates are still ambiguous. Now, with Starfield's delay, this promise has been broken, meaning it's more realistic that these games will see delays beyond June 2023 if they are not ready for release.

Starfield will release on the Xbox and PC on 6 September 2023. You can download the latest Starfield trainer and cheats for free from WeMod.



Posted: Mar 13, 2023 11:34 am
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/starfield-delay-xbox-showcase-release-date-promise-broken/