Formally announced in 2018, the story of Starfield actually starts a decade ago. Quietly in the works as early as 2012, Bethesda’s new IP has been highly anticipated for a whole console generation. And if ad space bought up by Microsoft is anything to go by, fans may not have to wait much longer.
This development was noted by Nick “Shpeshal Ed” Baker, editor of xboxera.com. Ed says he has been told that Microsoft has already bought up ad space for Starfield, scheduled for this year. Microsoft of course now owns Bethesda, and this information suggests the studio is eager for Bethesda to finally release the game in the foreseeable future.
Sharing this on his podcast, Ed said: “If you think logically about when they would have bought this ad time it would have been during the pandemic. So if they’re buying ad time for a game to come out in 2021, during the pandemic, then obviously they must be aware of something we’re not”.
This statement is backed up by another industry insider, Jeff Grubb, who claims that sources in Microsoft are eager to get Starfield showcased more prominently this year. With more material to show off, it increases hopes for a late 2021/early 2022 release date.
This isn’t the only bit of info on Starfield to come out today. A leak of suspected concept art was posed on Reddit, but shared to other sites before it was taken down. The artwork shows what could be a ship and a location that will appear in the game, or even a loading screen image.
While a 2021 release may seem optimistic given the lack of promotional material so far, it wouldn’t be out of character for Bethesda. Famously, there was only five months between Fallout 4’s announcement and release, with preorders going live the same time as the reveal trailer. However, it is up for debate whether or not Starfield could sell on hype alone like Fallout did, considering it is a new IP.
Starfield has no official release date, but is confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass from day one.
Source: XboxEra