Support NeoGAF

[gokurho]

Xbox Is About To Leave PlayStation In Starfield’s Glittering Space Dust

It’s been a long time coming, but Starfield is almost here and Microsoft is poised to fire its first major shot at Sony's rival PlayStation.

www.forbes.com

It’s been a long time coming, but Starfield is almost here. The day is almost upon us. The time is nigh. September 1st for pre-orders and September 6th for everyone else.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, Xbox is about to launch the biggest console exclusive of the year—bigger than Sony’s Spider-Man 2, bigger than Nintendo’s The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom.

In a year full of massive game releases—Hogwarts Legacy, Diablo IV, Baldur’s Gate 3, etc. etc.—none are as hotly-anticipated as Starfield, Bethesda’s answer to the question: “What if Skyrim, but in space?”

This is partly because Starfield has been in development for so long, and partly because Bethesda’s other big RPG—Elder Scrolls VI—is still years away.

Now it appears the chickens are coming home to roost for Sony. Those exclusivity deals might have paid off in the short-term, but with Xbox now owning Bethesda outright, it’s unlikely any more of their games will ever come to PlayStation. Starfield is the first* of many. An Indiana Jones game is in the works at Bethesda that will also skip PlayStation, and it seems unlikely that Elder Scrolls VI will launch on any console other than Xbox.

This could be the beginning of a major shift in the console wars, especially if Starfield turns out to be a hit. Judging by the success of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series, that seems like a foregone conclusion.

*please forget Redfall