Starfield on Xbox will be 'better' without PS5 to worry about, says Bethesda

Bethesda’s executive producer Todd Howard has said that the company can create better games now that it’s developing exclusively for Xbox and PC.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media, immediately raised fears that PS5 owners could miss out on future Bethesda games, and it turns out that will indeed be the case. Starfield was confirmed as an Xbox exclusive during Microsoft’s Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, and Arkane Austin’s Redfall will also be exclusive to Xbox and PC.

When asked about the effects of leaving PlayStation behind, Howard explained that being able to focus on a specific set of platforms will ultimately make for a better product.

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Speaking to The Telegraph, Howard said: “You don’t ever want to leave people out, right? But at the end of the day, your ability to focus and say, this is the game I want to make, these are the platforms I want to make it on, and being able to really lean in on those is going to make for a better product. By focusing on those platforms, you really get to lean in a lot on making it the best it can be for those systems".

But is Howard disappointed that so many PlayStation gamers will miss out on the company’s upcoming game? Not really, due to the fact that Microsoft is working hard to get games in the hands of more people than ever before.

“...we’re big believers in all of the avenues that Xbox and Microsoft are doing to get games to more people," Howard explained. "Whether that’s the integration with the PC, which is huge for us, the cloud streaming and all those things. So I think it’s about taking a long-term view. And our belief that those things are really fundamentally good. So we see it actually opening up more and more and more so that people’s ability to play our games - via GamePass and other things - their ability to play our games doesn’t go down. It goes up dramatically.

“And I can say I’m proud to be part of Xbox. I think it’s great for the community of gamers.”

Day one on Xbox Game Pass

An astronaut from the game Starfield. — (Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

As we’ve seen with Sony’s PS5 exclusives, there’s no doubt that when a developer can focus solely on one piece of hardware that the results are generally far more impressive than what can be achieved by a game that targets multiple systems. Not only does it mean that a studio’s resources become less stretched, but as Howard says, it can “lean in” on its strengths to make a better product.

Starfield is set to launch on November 11, 2022, for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.