Starfield doesn't appear to be a failure by any stretch of the imagination. It obviously sold well enough to warrant ongoing support through updates and DLC, even with Xbox Game Pass likely eating into its sales. However, it's hard to deny that it failed to make a place for itself in the cultural zeitgeist like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, something that a developer is all too aware of.
Speaking to FRVR, Starfield systems designer Bruce Nesmith reflects on the reception to the game and how expectations from fans may have influenced it. While he admits that Starfield's procedural generation wasn't for everyone, he also feels that it would have been better received if it hadn't come from Bethesda, since fans have certain expectations for the RPGs that come out of the studio.
“I think it’s a good game,” says Nesmith. “I don’t think it’s in the same calibre as the other two, you know, Fallout or Skyrim, or Elder Scrolls rather, but I think it’s a good game."
He goes on to discuss Starfield's place in Bethesda's lineup of games. “If the same game had been released by not Bethesda, it would have been received differently,” he says, explaining...
