Starfield is Bethesda's most ambitious project so far which might explain why its release date on Steam was quietly changed from early 2023 to coming soon recently. However, despite its ambition, the studio has confirmed players won't be able to travel seamlessly from space to the surfaces of the hundreds of planets you'll be able to explore.
Studios continue to find creative ways to replace loading screens, an element of games that has become increasingly absent as load times have decreased. It seems some potential Starfield players were hopeful there would be no need for loading screens nor a clever mechanic to hide them, and while that might technically be the case, Bethesda's Todd Howard has explained why the journey from space down to a planet won't be the same as it is in No Man's Sky.
Speaking to IGN, Howard claimed despite some asking for that feature, the team behind Starfield ultimately deemed it to be not important enough a feature when compared to the work it would require to implement. “We decided early in the project that the on-surface is one reality, and then when you’re in space it’s another reality,” Howard revealed.
“If you try to really spend a lot of time engineering the in-between, like that segue, you’re just spending a lot of time [on something] that’s really just not that important to the player.” Starfield's procedurally generated planets and space exploration theme have naturally resulted in a lot of No Man's Sky comparisons, but the distinct cut between space exploration and planet traversal will be one way in which the games differ.
Despite its release date becoming vaguer on Steam, there has been no official confirmation from Xbox or Bethesda regarding a change. In fact, Starfield still doesn't have a release date at all. Some eagerly awaiting the game think it'll be here on April 12 since that's the International Day Of Human Space Flight. Starfield will be getting its own showcase this month, during which a firm release date will hopefully be revealed.