The Starfield release date delay came as a surprise for a couple of different reasons. For one, Bethesda previously indicated that it was confident that Starfield would meet its planned release date. And for two, Bethesda rarely ever delays its games. Going through the history of Bethesda Game Studios, there aren’t many examples of the company delaying one of its games after the release date is announced, though it’s happened before.

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The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Bethesda’s first game under the Bethesda Game Studios banner, was delayed prior to its release. And then when the PC version of Morrowind came out, the Xbox version of the game suffered another delay. So while Bethesda has a reputation nowadays for almost ever delaying its games, its very first project was actually delayed.

The same thing happened with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. At one point in time, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion was meant to release in November 2005 as an Xbox 360 launch title. However, the game was eventually delayed, with its release date pushed back to March 2006. It seems Starfield may be finding itself in a similar position as Oblivion, especially if Bethesda is releasing the game in the first half of 2023 as expected.

After Oblivion, Bethesda mostly avoided delays, releasing titles like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 on time. One reason why Bethesda is able to accomplish this, though, is that it typically waits to reveal games until they’re fairly close to release. As some may recall, Fallout 4 wasn’t revealed until E3 2015, and then it was released later that same year. Starfield is an outlier in that its release date was announced over a year before the game’s planned launch, and it was revealed with a CG trailer at E3 2021 as opposed to the gameplay fans were treated to during Fallout 4’s big unveiling.

Reports indicate that some Starfield devs were worried the game would be another Cyberpunk, so the delay is likely for the best. In the meantime, fans may finally get to see more of Starfield at the Xbox showcase on June 12, where the game is expected to be a centerpiece of the event.

Starfield is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.

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