Bethesda’s Starfield is Xbox exclusive, coming November 2022

Todd Howard reveals Bethesda Game Studios’ next big adventure

Jun 13, 2021, 4:43 PM UTC

Michael McWhertor is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment.

Bethesda Game Studios’ spacefaring follow-up to Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, Starfield, will be released Nov. 11, 2022, game director Todd Howard and Bethesda Softworks announced Sunday at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase at E3 2021.

The first trailer for Starfield sets the mood for Bethesda’s next big open-world adventure. It shows a futuristic astronaut embarking on a bold adventure, and the trailer confirms release platforms: Xbox Series X and Windows PC. Microsoft also made it explicit that Starfield will be an Xbox exclusive, confirming that the game won’t be coming to PlayStation 5.

Starfield will also launch on Xbox Game Pass day one, Microsoft said.

Game director Todd Howard says Starfield is about a group of explorers called Constellation — “the last group of space explorers,” he says. “It’s a next-generation role-playing game where you’ll be who you want, go where you want, experience our stories and forge your own,” Howard said. “Starfield is about hope, our shared humanity, and searching for the answers to life’s greatest mystery.”

Starfield was originally announced in 2018, alongside The Elder Scrolls 6. It’s the first new franchise from Bethesda Game Studios in 25 years.

A large spacecraft marked “NG1350” with a base behind it sits on the rocky surface of a planet in Starfield

An astronaut in the cockpit of a spacecraft sitting on a planet in Starfield.

an assault rifle, a flight manual, a sandwich, and other sundry objects sitting on a desk in Starfield

a broken spacesuit helmet sitting on a shelf in Starfield

the back of a watch in Starfield engraved with Constellation’s slogan: “For all, into the starfield / Chronomark Planetary Expedition Instrument”

1/5Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

See More:

Starfield

Explore The Game

Why we like itThere’s plenty of magic in Starfield, but you may need to buy into the illusion first. Yes, most of Starfield’s “1,000 planets” are the result of video game-y smoke and mirrors, yet they conjure a true sense of galaxy-spanning adventure. Kind of like the old-school RPGs that inspired it!

— Ari Notis, Guides Editor