Former developer says “people would have reacted differently” if Starfield had been published by a studio other than Bethesda

Former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith offers his thoughts on the split starry skyinsisting that if it had been released by any other studio, “it would have been received differently.”

talking FRVRThe former Starfield systems designer admits the sci-fi RPG is “not on the same level” as Bethesda's beloved Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, but insists it's still “a great game.”

“I think it's a good game,” said Nesmith, who left Bethesda about a year before Starfield was released. “I don't think it's on the same level as the other two games, you know, Fallout or Skyrim or The Elder Scrolls, but I think it's a good game. I worked hard on it and I'm proud of the work that I did. I'm proud of the work that the people that I know did on it. I think they made a great game.”

Nesmith said that when “the studios that make Skyrim and Fallout make a space game, people have certain “expectations,” but those expectations aren't met. “If the same game wasn't published by Bethesda, people would react to it differently,” Nesmith insisted.

“Starfield” launched in September 2023 and was Bethesda's first new IP in 25 years, but its response was not as good as the studio's previous “Fallout” and “Elder Scrolls” series games, and the “Shattered Space” expansion pack released a year later in September 2024 received “mostly negative” user reviews on Steam.

Starfield has since reached 15 million players, but the question of whether Bethesda will abandon the game and focus on other series has been an ongoing theme since launch. June 2024, Bethesda insists it remains committed to supporting Starfieldand confirmed that at least one more story expansion will be coming after Shattered Space. and during the interview YouTube channel MrMattyPlaysBethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard said the developer is aiming to release annual story expansions “hopefully over a long period of time.”

Apparently, this hasn't happened yet. In August, there were reports that Starfield's second expansion and highly anticipated PlayStation 5 port set to launch in 2026It follows the poor reception of Shattered Space .

So, what went wrong? Nesmith noted that Starfield's reliance on procedural generation was an issue rather than the lack of real-time space travel, which he described as “inherently boring.”

“But when the planets start to feel very similar and you can't start to feel the excitement on the planet, that's where it breaks down for me,” he continued. “I'm also disappointed because pretty much the only serious enemies you face are humans… There are a lot of cool alien creatures, but they're like the wolves in Skyrim. They're just there, they don't contribute, and you don't have a variety of serious antagonists to generate the story.”

Bethesda has confirmed plans to improve Starfield space gameplay to “make traveling there more meaningful” After data mining, code snippets indicate that developers are working on a more streamlined space travel experience. According to this datamining, while you may be able to travel between planets within the same system, you won't be able to fly all the way between systems, nor fly directly from a planet's surface into orbit like in No Man's Sky.

In a new video discussing his career, veteran Bethesda developer Tim Lamb confirmed that the studio has been working on Starfield's space gameplay and that new DLC stories will still be coming at some point.

“I think when it comes to Starfield, I'm really excited for players to see what the team has been working on,” he said. “We have some cool stuff coming soon, including free updates and features players have been asking for, as well as new DLC stories.

“I can't reveal all the details yet, but I will say that part of the team has been focused on space gaming to make traveling there more worthwhile. We've also added some new game systems, as well as some other smaller fun things. There's also some really fun stuff coming from our proven creators. There's some fun stuff.

“I just want to say thank you. We are so grateful for everyone's support and enthusiasm. We can't wait to get it into the hands of our players.”

last month, Bethesda previews new content starry sky — or so fans thought after discovering a hidden message in a social media video posted to celebrate the game's second anniversary.

Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].