‘Starfield’ Gets A Late Summer Release Date After Numerous Delays

After numerous delays and setbacks, Starfield finally has a release date. Whether you think it will stick is up to you. I’m just cynical enough to doubt and just optimistic to believe—like some hybrid Scully and Mulder monstrosity—but either way, Bethesda and Microsoft finally seem confident about a date.

September 6th, 2023 is the new release date. With two weeks of summer left, you’ll finally be able to blast off into the Skyrim and Fallout developer’s science-fiction space opera RPG. Here’s the announce trailer:

This is a big deal for Microsoft. I’ve written about how Xbox Game Pass—where this game will launch as part of the subscription—gives the Xbox Series X an edge of the PlayStation 5. Many have pointed to this game’s delays as evidence that my argument is moot. Certainly, all the delays for this game and Halo Infinite have not been good for the Xbox player-base or Microsoft’s efforts to close the gap between Xbox and PlayStation.

But Starfield is definitely going to be a huge release and the first major Bethesda title ever to be an Xbox exclusive. In terms of healthy competition between these platform holders, that’s a good thing. In every other sense, it’s kind of sad to see one of the great multiplatform RPG studios leave PlayStation behind.

We’ll get to see a whole bunch more of the game in action during June’s big Xbox Showcase (once upon a time part of E3). June 11th is the date you’ll want to jot down in your calendars for that one. June 11th. September 6th.

In any case, we’re just a few months away from Starfield now. I remain skeptical that this will be the game everyone hopes it will be, but then there’s that other side of me that wants to believe.