Todd Howard explains in a podcast that Starfield was deliberately built so that it can be played for years and provided with new content.
On September 25, 2023, Starfield boss Todd Howard was a guest on the “AIAS Game Makers Notebook Podcast” and spoke with Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games (Spyro, Ratches & Clank, Marvel’s Spider-Man).
Howard is Game Director and Executive Producer for Bethesda Game Studios. During the podcast, he talked about how the role-playing game was designed for players to play long-term (via YouTube).
Howard explains that Bethesda has learned from Skyrim and Fallout
What exactly did Howard say about Starfield’s longevity? First, Howard talked about the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The role-playing game was already a really big game when it was released, but if you look at it today, it is even bigger thanks to the many mods and add-ons and is still being played 12 years later.
Howard then goes on to say that he believes players get used to a game over time and then want to improve it and add new things.
As a developer, Bethesda wants the same thing, which is why the studio is collecting feedback and has a list of things that Starfield should receive in the future. But you can’t jump into the whole list straight away, you have to “choose your battles” and make sure that everything runs “stable” (via YouTube).
Starfield – Official Gameplay Trailer
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Howard explains that Starfield is deliberately designed to be played over a long period of time and to ask the question of what Starfield will look like in, say, three or four years.
Bethesda learned from previous games like Skyrim and Fallout, Howard describes, and therefore made sure during the development of Starfield to build the game in such a way that it could be provided with long-term content and played for years.
At Starfield they have created a basis on which they can build.
What else does Howard say in the podcast? The conversation with Ted Price provides some interesting insights into the development of Starfield and the thought processes Bethesda had during development.
For example, Howard also explained in the podcast that Bethesda intentionally made enemy ships in Starfield “really stupid,” even though it would have been very easy to make them very smart.
Howard also talked about player expectations and the RPG genre. He is of the opinion that players’ expectations of a role-playing game have changed “drastically” because elements of the genre are incorporated into many games and the genres mix.
Starfield’s boss thinks players today have drastically changed expectations because everything is an RPG