17 August 2023 , 10:00
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As confirmation of Starfield going gold arrives, lead designers on the game recently shared new details in a candid Q&A with the community.
Although players with an Xbox Game Pass subscription got a taste of space-based fun thanks to the launch of Everspace 2 straight into the service earlier this week, everyone knows that the true main event is Starfield. The highly anticipated sci-fi RPG from Bethesda was recently confirmed to have gone gold in a tweet ahead of its launch on September 6, 2023, meaning that main development on the game is now finished – and preload on Xbox Series X|S is available right now, contrary to prior leaks.
Continuing the Starfield celebrations ahead of its release, Bethesda itself recently took to the official Bethesda Discord server to answer a few lingering questions had by fans. 16 in total were answered (as summarised on the Starfield Wiki ) that revealed further, never-before-spoken-about details regarding aspects of Starfield's gameplay and story.
When asked if properties would be purchasable, lead quest designer Will Shen revealed that it is indeed possible. “Some you have to purchase and some are rewards for specific quests,” he said. Also confirmed in the Q&A was the existence of a jail system for players who commit crimes, that time will pass only when your game save is actively being played, and that you’ll need to pay one-off salaries to any crew members you hire to work at outposts. Here's a summary of the other Starfield gameplay details that were discussed:
Starfield gameplay details – Q&A summary
- You can choose to play as a double agent, aligning yourself with multiple factions, not just one.
- A lot – but not all confrontations – can be totally avoided using systems like the “Speech Challenge game” that lets players persuade people out of a fight.
- Certain items like harvested organs are considered “contraband” in the world of Starfield, but can be smuggled past security ships.
- There are over 20 named characters who can join your crew, only four of which are from the Constellation organisation.
- Mechs that are present are in fact “leftovers from the Colony Wars” had between two factions: United Colonies and Freestar Collective.
In addition to the nitty-gritty of how certain systems will work, the developers were also asked about their biggest influences on the game. “Star Wars, OG Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, Buck Rogers, Battle Beyond the Stars, Ice Pirates” and more, are all said to have somewhat inspired aspects of Starfield’s narrative, according to lead designer Emil Pagliarulo, as well as the fact that space should be both “a source of mystery and wonder” and “a giant blank page”.
Why Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's six week delay is a good thing
Although Starfield doesn’t officially release until September 6, 2023, players who pre-order either the Starfield Premium Edition or Starfield Constellation Edition will be able to gain early access to the game five days earlier on September 1, 2023. Regardless of if you pre-order or not, there's not much longer to wait for the Xbox exclusive now.