Starfield Has Officially Gone Gold, Xbox & PC Preload Dates Revealed

I'm weirdly nervous for this release, it feels like such an important milestone in the Series X|S lifespan. I'm just hoping it's good and not a buggy mess.

It's about time to suit up and get into space!

@Exerion76 most games go bronze these days

What's the over/under on install size? 125gb?

Edit: Found an article saying it is was already announced to be 125gb. maybe that is why that number stuck out to me.

Let's hope its going to be a great game let's wait and see

@Exerion76 It does mean that there won't be any more delays, though - which I think was people's biggest fear.

So, Day 1 patch or not...it's happening.

I'm just hoping this isn't Fallout 4 set in outerspace.

People complain about not going gold then complain about going gold. Gaming community is peak circus.

I sincerely hope Microsoft and Bethesda learned from the troubles surrounding Cyberpunk 2077's launch, because if not this is going to be a disaster of epic proportions.

@Darylb88 Bronze is being generous. I'd say tin at best.

@101Force Todd Howard admitting that he has been playing the full game almost exclusively on a Series S leads me to believe a true Cyberpunk scenario is impossible. (I still expect some typical Skyrim type small bugs that will make for funny tweets)

Nice 2 weeks is more enough for me. God i wish the next 2 weeks would pass quickly.

@101Force Why does everyone think a Cyberpunk level disaster will happen with every game? That was a massive exception to the norm and the last release that bad was well Cyberpunk.

@GamingFan4Lyf It doesn't technically mean it will not be delayed but it is now very unlikely to be delayed.

https://www.ign.com/articles/5-very-different-reasons-games-were-delayed-after-going-gold

Hopefully, I'll have Fallout New Vegas finished by then (such a great game), which is even better on Series X thanks to the fps boost. If Starfield is anything like New Vegas, I'm sure to be in for a treat.

I really hope this lives up to the hype. Let’s face it, there’s a hell of a lot riding on this game, not just Bethesda’s reputation but also Microsoft’s. This game needs to deliver! I think I’m gonna spring for the early access version (via GP) because I won’t be able to wait the extra 5 days 😂

Has the review embargo been revealed yet? Because that will say a lot.

When does xbox charge for preorders? I used reward points to get for free outright just wondering when it gets completed

@DarthAmmii Bethesda has a policy of Review Embargos being the day before launch. Metacritic is suggesting it will be Sept 1 in this case or same day as the early access. They are handing out review codes sometime this week though so people should be playing it by the weekend.

OK yEah , nice starfield 😁

@Rmg0731 If you turned the points into store credit it is immediately. If however you paid part via your card MS has a weird glitch where it may try to take all the payment via card which would happen a few days before the launch date. If you are going to use giftcards for a pre order you need to cover the whole amount on giftcard.

@101Force in a way they already addressed this. Saying the game was close to being ready for the first launch date and they delayed it to polish the game more and work out more bugs. MS even had a team help with that if i am remembering the article correctly. So this should be a decent launch for a game of its size. Keyword size. This isn’t a 40 hour game with a few worlds and things to do. This is an epic RPG universe with a ton going on. Bugs are going to be there in some shape. But overtime i believe they will get it right working with MS.

@Darylb88 i turned into store credit which appears to be still on account, so assuming they have not done it yet

@Rmg0731 my Diablo 4 preorder got charged 10 day’s before launch. I think it states that on there somewhere. It’s 10 days before release date. Hope that helped 😊

@Rmg0731 Strange I paid mine with store credit and it said completed right away. Maybe double check the payment method is 100% gift card or cancel that order and retry.

@DTfeartheBEARD
If you like New Vegas make sure to check out Outer Worlds. Same developer (Obsidian)

@Exerion76 It means it isn't getting delayed again.

@DennisReynolds one word - Redfall
Ok two - Gollum

@fraserg Loved the “you will need space” pun…

Bethesda's RPGs are interesting beasts, they are never what I "wanted" but I always enjoy them.
So, for me atleast, they are doing something right.

@Tonmoy Indeed.

Already got that premium upgrade ready to go August 31st. I suppose all that fake concern for not being gold will just be used to concern elsewhere. My body is ready, however.

I really hope this game turns out to be amazing, and that the delays have resulted in something for the Xbox community to be proud of. That said, I feel kind of sorry for Bethesda, and Xbox in general, as Baldur's Gate 3 is going to be the game that takes home all the Game of the Year Awards for the next 12 months, and I think that Starfield will always be an 'also ran'.

I'm hoping that Starfield is good enough to at least be nominated for every Game of the Year Award, but it is truly unfortunate timing for the game to release in the same period as BG3, and indeed, releasing on the same day as BG3 does on the PlayStation, which has effectively been gifted the highest rated game of the year as an exclusive because of the Series S and the ridiculous parity clause that could potentially mean that BG3 never releases on the Xbox. Regardless, if Starfield does not get reviews similar to those being received by BG3, then the game will be very much overshadowed, which is truly a shame.

Here's hoping that Starfield is something of which we can be proud... 😊

I predict 84-88 on metacritic ..but I hope it gets higher

Is it going to be the biggest one, @Kaloudz?

I know for Xbox it is the most hyped and anticipated, but right now, no one is really talking about Starfield. It is Baldur's Gate 3 that is raising all the headlines, and Starfield needs to be something particularly special (or dismal!) to steal the limelight.

I worry that, as many have said (with absolutely no evidence, mind) that the majority of the planets will be barren and pointless to land on. I fear there is a possibility that in trying to make the game so big, that they will have diluted what they have created. Really hope I'm wrong, as I want the game to be very successful...

@Fiendish-Beaver "no one is really talking about starfield ..." HUH?

I don't mean here, @J_Mo_Money, but if you look elsewhere, it's barely a topic, whereas BG3 is absolutely everywhere. I do mean in relative terms too. Indeed, if you look at the articles on this site, there have been more about BG3 recently (a game that we are not currently getting) than Starfield, and if you look further still, there are far more people commenting on the BG3 topics...

@Kaloudz guaranteed it'll peak over 1 million on Steam. Guaranteed.

@AlwaysPlaying Redfall was no where near as bad as Cyberpunk's launch and Gollum is at best a AA game no one was hyped for and everyone knew would suck from the off and especially leading up to it.

@Fiendish-Beaver I mean BG3 just released and Starfield has yet to come out, hard to talk about something when nearly everything about it has yet to be seen and played.

@Rmg0731 It's usually around 10 days before launch on Xbox

@Fiendish-Beaver It's currently the number 1 wishlisted game on steam and has been trending all week on twitter, has had new information all week, and just went gold today (which is currently being talked about in most places). I'm not really sure what "not being talked about" means then ...

To be honest whether you are interested in this game or not its the biggest game of the year in my eyes. So much pressure and hype, coming after TotK and BG3 with almost perfect critical acclaim and being a Bethesda game which will highly likely release as a buggy mess..... I can not wait! As a GP subscriber there is no burn or buyers remorse, however will be very disappointed if it doesn't match the hype.

@somnambulance TOTK will probably win because the high score and almost 20 million sales, i agree. To be honest, i liked BOTW more than TOTK. Didnt care for the building stuff.

@DarthAmmii Bethesda usually only allows reviews on the release date... which people see as a red flag, but Bethesda does it for every game, good or bad. Redfall or Doom Eternal.

Maybe under Microsoft's management they will lift the embargo a few days before the release date, but I wouldn't read too much on the reviews popping only on the release date.

@somnambulance I think Baldur's Gate 3 will be the Game of the Year. Yes, Zelda is great and it sold very well, but it's a sequel to another Zelda that won multiple GotY awards already, so I think most publications and award shows will choose to honour BG3 instead, specially because it has a good story behind it, it's an indie underdog made with care and love thanks to a successful kickstarter campaign.

As for Starfield, I hope it will be amazing, and I think it's very likely to be nominated for GotY, but in order to have a shot at winning, it will need nearly perfect metascore just to compete with BG3 and Zelda. In which case, 2023 will officially be the best year ever in the history of videogames.

I have the Collector's Edition (the one with the watch) of Starfield on pre-order, @StonyKL. So it's not like I'm not interested in the game. It's just that I think it has a huge amount of pressure on its shoulders to reach the same level of achievement as both ToTK and BG3 have had. Being that it is both a Bethesda (and Xbox) game, I think it will receive added scrutiny, and thus perhaps held to a different standard. Bethesda are known to release games that are a buggy mess, and Xbox desperately need a big hit, so the pressure is really on, and I'm not sure that will be Starfield equal to the task, though I would really love it if it is as Xbox needs that win, and we all know that if it falls short, the Ponies will be all over it...

I'm nervous but also looking forward to this, I'll be pre-loading it as soon as I can and I hope there aren't too many bugs!

@somnambulance Lest not forget the beginning of 2023 as well with Hogwarts and Hi-Fi rush, which also are worthy of GOTY consideration, Not to mention Forza and Super Mario RPG remake, AND Resident Evil 4. Man, such great games!

New info was released today as well: 20+ named companions for the game, jail system, you can have homes in multiple cities, smuggle contraband through checkpoints, all factions quests can be done separately.

Man, I cannot WAIT!

@Kaloudz Definitely the biggest on Xbox and biggest new IP but we have already had Zelda and still have Mario and Spider-Man to come.

@ZuneTattooGuy I've purchased and played Outer Worlds 3 times (One X, PS5, Switch). It's really good. I'm looking forward to Outer Worlds 2 👍.

I'm guessing reviewer copies are going out right around now. Reviews should be up a day or two before September 1st. That would make sense.

@somnambulance it'll be nice if a third person, over the shoulder, story driven game doesn't win for a change but thats why i dont know if BG3 will win because the industry prefers those types of games. Hell, Forza Horizon 5 was one of the highest rated racing games ever when it released and didn't get a nod.

We know the obligatory indie will get a nomination, though.

@somnambulance Aliens - maybe. There have been rumors of 2-3 OMG moments in the game and aliens maybe one of them….

@J_Mo_Money just breathe - now scream and run around like me … the hype is building… two weeks to go 🎉

@AlwaysPlaying Last few games i played were TOTK and Final Fantasy vi pixel remaster. Now ive been light on gaming for the past few weeks and will get fully enthralled when this comes out the 31st. Cannot wait!

@Enigk
Spider-Man 2 may not be as big as some are thinking it will be. I don't think it will sell as well as Starfield, Mario or Zelda. Spider-Man 2 needs to show off gameplay that doesn't make it look like another Spider-Man 1 expansion

@somnambulance got sea of stars ready to go from gamed pass as well! and the shredder's revenge dlc comes out 9/1. Too many games. Too many games.

@somnambulance
Starfield looks like if Fallout and No Mans Sky had a baby. So yes there are games on the market to compare it to on the market. That being said I am still very excited to play it

@J_Mo_Money

My gosh, I still haven't played Hogwarts or RE 4, and Bethesda always takes 300-500 hours of my life. Still haven't purchased TOTK, Spiderman2 might really nail it too , 2077 expansion. This gaming hobby is killing it right now.

@DennisReynolds absolutely- yes saying the Industry has not learned yet and another Cyperpunk is inevitable. That said BG3 first patch is fixing 1000 bugs ….

Hi there fellow gamers.
I am very excited to play Starfield.
It is one of the big ones of this stacked year and from the Direct alone, wich sold me on the game, we gamers might just have something special.
There is also a very cool youtube video were Adam Savage and his team build a real Starfield ship model, the Frontier.
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuM_1xSQCFw
Just a few more weeks people. Getting close.
Cheers and happy gaming everyone

@somnambulance I don’t think bg3 will be GOTY, it’s too niche, kinda like how a racing game would never win. I think Starfield and SM2 will be up there (both high 80s-90 games),with hogwarts but I can’t see anyone taking it from TOTK, obviously a few ‘lesser’ GOTY awards may differ. These would be my top 5 at a guess.

The indie or outsider will most likely be hifi rush and Dave the diver, with stuff like FF16, forza, pikmin potentially rounding out the top10

I bought the Xbox/PC gamepass Constellation Edition. Hoping someone can help with a couple of questions:

1. How will preloading work for buyers of the Constellation Edition? The validation key is inscribed on one of the physical items in the box; will it be shipped to me in time to use it for the preload?

2. I would like to (a) eventually use mods when they become available and (b) play the game on the go. If I keep the Constellation edition and download it via PC gamepass, will I be able to use mods from NexusMods? If so, I could then also play on the go via web browser and “Play Anywhere” on my Steam Deck. Or am I better off buying the digital Steam version (which will definitely work with mods) and playing natively on my Steam Deck?

@somnambulance I think BG3 will out story Starfield as Bethesda don’t have a great track record with NPC characters, interactions etc. it’s all shallow.

A nice high 80’s score will be good for Starfield I think.

Glad to see the Starfield hype has completely taken over. All the news this week plus the announcement of going gold, twitter has been talking about nothing but Starfield today. The Q&A sessions that dropped all that knowledge as well? Man, i can’t wait!

@Moonglow I also think any direct comparison with BG3 and Starfield is a bit skewed. They are vastly different types of RPG.

Starfields scope is much bigger in terms of map size vs an RPG based on mostly dungeons.

So its fair to expect some sparse areas or barren planets as it were.

GOTY will definitely be a tough call this year.

@Fiendish-Beaver BG3 is a hot topic. I'm guessing because of some Sony fans making a fuss about it( even though it's a PC release) especially it's not coming to Xbox until next year. I'm going to be honest here. Starfield will be negatively impact because of BG3 high ratings. And trust me Sony fanboys will compare BG3 and starfield.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I think Bethesda wasn't focus on NPC interaction. They were too focus on building those 1000 planets unique design, arts, physics, etc.

People put way too much on the official game of the year awards. There are plenty of game of the year awards that are absolutely credible and don’t always line up with the main awards.

The BAFTA game awards last year awarded Vampire Survivors the GotY and forever earned a huge amount of my respect as a result. I played that game more than any other game released last year. Just a brilliant game and well deserving of a GotY award in its own right.

Only paying attention to the official game awards and nothing else is like only paying attention to the Oscar’s.

@Belkan

Not sure where you’re getting that from. Based on what’s been said so far, this is Bethesda’s biggest story to date. I have seen nothing covered in this game to date that would give one the impression the NPC side of this game is lacking in any regard. Quite the contrary.

@RIghteousNixon play any Bethesda game, barely any NPC is memorable nor many of their stories/cutscenes. It’s just not a strength of Bethesda, they make up for it elsewhere with the world building etc.

@RIghteousNixon it's just speculation. We can never be to sure what Bethesda focused on

@Fiendish-Beaver I honestly haven’t even heard about BG3 until I saw your post. This probably says a lot about me, but if it were a huge hype I certainly would’ve seen some posts about it. It’s certainly not a Zelda/Hogwarts/Starfield-esque hype.

Anyway, I can’t wait! Really have to put in some more hours into FF16 now to finish it in time.

Just have to wait and see. I don’t like Skyrim so probably won’t like this but we’ll see

Cant wait to stop all the speculation and just get lost in this game and enjoy it. Im going to believe in bethusdas ability to craft a fantastic experience, unless I hear otherwise. Cant wait to jump in.

For me, hype is generally something that builds excitement for a game prior to release, @Darude84. BG3 had been in Early Access for over two years prior to release, so hype surrounding the title is perhaps a less appropriate turn of phrase. It did have a good deal of word of mouth praise because of the quality of the game.

What there has been though, since the release of BG3 is an explosion of stories praising it. It is, to a great extent, a niche game, which will undoubtedly hurt its sales, and that is truly unfortunate. Many people will dismiss it out of hand because it is not a game that they would typically play. Those people will be missing out on something truly special, but that is a choice people are absolutely entitled to make.

When it comes to the Game of the Year Awards though, I am absolutely convinced that BG3 will take home the majority, if not every last one of them. The game is that good...

I think you are absolutely right, @Belkan. BG3 was ready to be released on the PlayStation at the beginning of August, and I think that Sony probably asked Larian delay the release until the 6th of September to firstly lessen the impact of the PlayStation not getting Starfield, but also because they knew that BG3 was likely to be a huge critical hit that was therefore going to take the shine off of Starfield. So even if Starfield does score something in the order of 90-95, it will still fall short of BG3's 97.

It's pure speculation on my part, but if I am right it is actually a very clever move on the part of Sony. They may not be getting what could be conceivably one of the biggest games of the year, but they have filled that void with what has transpired to be the biggest critical hit in many years. It will also potentially mean that people who may have been tempted to wander over to the Green side to play Starfield, may instead remain in the Blue area to play BG3. Intentional or not, it has worked out very well for Sony...

I think you are right on both counts, @Moonglow. It's probably my terrible OCD that is concerning me when it comes to the visiting planets with nowt on them. I like to go everywhere and do everything. Squeeze everything out of a game. That is probably what is causing me a mild anxiety when it comes to Starfield.

What also troubles me is that Starfield needs to be a massive hit for Xbox. It has to succeed on every level. Any other year, and it may well have romped home with every Game of the Year Award, but it has hugely impressive competition this year, and failure to win those awards will hurt Xbox. And if BG3 is the one to (deservedly, in my opinion) take home all those GotY Awards, then the fact that is effectively a PlayStation console exclusive, makes that hurt all the more...

@Darude84 there has been posts everywhere except not many here because of the delay.

125gb?! Looks like I'll have to make some room, or use Xcloud as I imagine it'll be on there too.

As good as FO4 is (Which I'm currently playing at the moment) I don't want to start a game practacally the same but with different graphics..
After 2-3 months of FO4 i want something different.

That's my hope too, @Moonglow. I imagine that all quests will be marked on the star map, and you will know precisely which planet to go to, and then once on the planet, a further marker will direct you to the quest itself. I just remember spending 100s of hours in Fallout 4 and Fallout New Vegas (in which I spent 950 hours in a single playthrough!) and finding all the places that did not appear on the map that had insignificant things to do, but were entertaining nonetheless, and therefore I'm left wondering whether the same will be true of unmarked planets. Hopefully Bethesda will give us some guidance before Starfield's release.

Just to demonstrate how bad I am, I am currently playing Baldur's Gate 3 on my PC, and every single movable rock is being lifted to the side just in case there is anything hidden beneath it! 😂I have found something under two, so it's absolutely worth checking, but I must have lifted 50 rocks so far... 🤣

@ZuneTattooGuy You don't have to unsell it to me. I was getting tired of the routine ny the end of the original game and Miles Morales was just long enough to not outstay its welcome although I had feelings of deja vu playing it. I'll wait for the new one to hit PS Plus anyway.

I do think it will be Bethesda's best launch in terms of scope and fewest bugs, @Kaloudz. I hope it reviews well, and is given a fair shout, rather than people looking to pick holes or indeed, being sour to it because it is not coming to the PlayStation and so looking to settle scores etc. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll get a fair hearing from some sources, and so the review scores may not be a true reflection of the actual quality of the game...

@Belkan

We can, based on what they themselves have said. You may choose not to believe them, but I do. This isn’t some crappy studio with a long history of lying to fans. This is one of the most prominent RPG makers in history so when they tell me this is the biggest story to date, I have zero reason to doubt it’s true.

@Fiendish-Beaver

Talk about rose colored glasses. I get that one can view things differently, but suggesting Sony not getting Starfield worked out really well for them is really really stretching it.

First off, BG3 is FAR FAR more niche than Starfield. A lot of people will pick up BG3 and give it a spin because of all the positive press, but a significant number of those people will not stick with it long. There is a reason those kinds of games have had a very niche market dating all the way back to the original BG, it’s simply not nearly as accessible as RPG’s like Starfield, especially with todays gamers.

And Starfield, if it even lives up to 75% of the expectations, is a once in a generation kind of game. I can promise you this, long after BG3 on console is forgotten about, Starfield will still be relevant. That’s how it always is with Bethesda’s single player RPG’s.

Nope, Sony screwed themselves hard on this one by going after too many big 3rd party exclusives and forced MS’s hand, and no matter how one spins it, Starfield not going to PS is a huge huge loss. A few months of BG3 exclusivity due to the Xbox version being delayed doesn’t change that one bit.

You need to re-read what I said, @RIghteousNixon. I never said that not getting Starfield on the PlayStation was a good thing. What I said was PlayStation getting BG3 on that 6th of September meant they were being gifted the Game of the Year, as, in my opinion it is likely to be winner over Starfield. Take a look and you will see that that is what I wrote.

I fully accept BG3 is a more niche game, but cannot agree that it will be soon forgotten, just as the original Baldur's Gate games are still played right up until now. That's 25 years now, and they are still spoken about today. Still relevant and still popular. They are, in my opinion very dated, but what else can you expect from a game that is 25 years old?

I do, however, agree that Starfield will see far more players interested in the game than BG3 will. Whether that interest persists longer than in BG3 is another matter, and entirely depends on how Starfield reviews and whether it warrants peoples time (something that we already know that BG3 does). I hope Starfield does, as I have bought the Collector's Edition of Starfield that comes with the watch, and am eager to play it!

However, my comment had nothing to do with Sony getting one over on Xbox, or the other way around. It was simply to state that due to Xbox's parity clause, I felt that Microsoft had effectively gifted the PlayStation the game that would walk away with every GotY Award, and that there was the potential for BG3 to never appear on the Xbox if Larian cannot get split-screen to work on the S.

I absolutely agree with you that it is Sony's own greed in pursuing more and more exclusives that forced Microsoft into buying companies like Bethesda and ABK. I've been saying this exact thing in both Pure and Push for many months. Microsoft, due to Xbox's share of the market, simply cannot get developers to sign third-party exclusivity deals, as the return on Microsoft's investment in trying to secure such a deal would not warrant the outlay. Hence, buying companies is far more cost effective, and what they have sought to do...

@Fiendish-Beaver

I said BG3 would be forgotten on console soon enough. PC gaming is a whole different beast. BG3 will remain relevant for a long time to come on PC. 6 months after release on console, you’re not gonna hear a word about it.

And my overall point was that trying to spin anything about this as positive for PS is a bit comical. Sure, getting BG3 is great for PS gamers as it will be for Xbox gamers when it drops, but getting both BG3 and Starfield is a far far superior scenario no matter how its spun and Xbox and PC get both. Sure, there is a slight delay on the Xbox side, but that becomes far far less relevant given Starfields release, and the rest of the fall/winter releases that are coming. Had BG3 not coming to Xbox right away happened during a drought, it would have been much more impactful. It didn’t…

But that is the point, @RIghteousNixon, PlayStation is getting BG3 and the Xbox is not getting it at the same time. There is a real possibility that it will never come to the Xbox because Larian does not want to drop the couch-co-op and Xbox insist on parity. If that remains the true, then BG3 will never come to the Xbox. And if that happens, and there is a strong possibility that it will, that is indeed positive for the PlayStation crowd. It needs to be remembered that if Larian and Xbox both keep to their current stances, that may simply be unable to get split-screen working, which is exactly what both 343 were unable to do with Halo and Turn 10 cannot do with Forza Motorsport. And if two Microsoft companies cannot do it, what chances Larian?

My point was that Sony will be pleased to see the highest rated game of the year as effectively a console exclusive landing on the exact same day that Starfield releases, which will take some of the sting out of it not releasing on the PlayStation. Would they prefer to have Starfield over BG3? Yes, without doubt, but BG3 is a game that will fill that void for some, and there will be a large percentage of those that game on the PlayStation that will access Starfield on either an Xbox or a PC.