Starfield, the upcoming RPG from Bethesda Game Studios, is releasing later this year, but Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer already has aspirations to make it the most played Bethesda game to date. Despite being an exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PC, the CEO still has hopes for a big release.
Speaking to Axios reporter Stephen Totilo in a recent interview, Spencer talked about making Starfield the most played and successful Bethesda game yet. He also touched upon Xbox Game Pass and how that allowed players to contribute towards the massive player numbers for Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 last year.
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Spencer’s full response reads:
“I love the Forza 5 and Halo stats…I love how many people played Psychonauts 2 vs. Psychonauts 1. So, when I look at the teams, when Todd and I talk about Starfield, it’s: ‘How do we make sure this is the most-played Todd Howard game ever?'”
Speaking about Halo and Forza, Spencer also mentioned how Game Pass contributed to their latest installments being made available to a lot more players thanks to the subscription service. “Those are the most played games in those franchises because we made them available on more screens than we ever have, through more business models than we’ve ever made them available,” said Spencer.
Starfield will launch day one on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox Series X/S and PC owners, ensuring it reaches millions of people without the pay gate of a premium price.
As some have pointed out, though, Starfield being exclusive to Xbox Series X/S – which is already facing supply shortages this year – as well as PC limits its potential to actually become the “most played Bethesda game ever”, especially since it’s not available on PlayStation. Taking into account Bethesda’s enormous success with Skyrim and its numerous re-releases across multiple platforms, it seems like a tall order.
Spencer hopes the increasing Xbox Game Pass subscriber numbers will be enough to launch Starfield into his lofty ambitions.
Starfield launches on 11 November 2022 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
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Source: Stephen Totilo