On Sept. 6, 2023, Bethesda released their new game “Starfield” on the Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Microsoft Windows. “Starfield” has been expected since the announcement in 2018, during Bethesda’s E3 presentation. During this current time Bethesda was a stand-alone company that produced award winning games such as “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” and “Fallout 4”, which both are available on consoles including PlayStation. When the announcement of “Starfield” came into recognition people were excited for the possibility of Bethesda having another “Game of the Year” award winning title. However, after many years of anticipation, Bethesda announce that “Starfield” would not be released as a multi-platform title, as Bethesda was purchased by Microsoft. It is understandable that there would be some changes in terms of its release, but having the game not release on PlayStation was a turn that gamers did not expect. “Starfield” has gotten many great reviews as well as critiques but none of that amounts to the number of complaints people have given regarding its release. Bethesda’s previous game titles have already been released on a plethora of consoles including the PlayStation, and by changing the release to be an Xbox exclusive Bethesda is alienating the audience that have come to expect the ability to access their games on all platforms. It is also come to the attention that Xbox does not have as many iconic games as its competitors. Bringing up the idea that Microsoft purchased Bethesda for the sole purpose of having an “iconic game.” It is a petty thing to think about, but if it meant bringing a wider audience towards Xbox, it is possible. It is hard to imagine a worldwide gaming console company would pull a move such as this to try to get on equal leveling as its competitors.
