In the lead-up to the highly-anticipated launch of Starfield, Todd Howard, the renowned figure behind Bethesda’s games, and Phil Spencer, Xbox’s head honcho, have been making the rounds for interviews. Among these, a noteworthy conversation took place with Bloomberg Technology. While the discussion touched on various aspects of the gaming industry, one question from the audience grabbed everyone’s attention: “why did you not optimize this game for PC?”
WATCH NOW: TODD HOWARD DEFENDS STARFIELD
Todd Howard’s response was both candid and humorous. He calmly replied, “Uh… we did,” prompting a chuckle from Phil Spencer. Howard continued, “It’s running great. It is a next-gen PC game; we really do push the technology, so you may need to upgrade your PC for this game, but it’s got a lot of great stuff going on in it, and the fans are responding awesome.”
Starfield, as expected from a Bethesda creation, embodies the studio’s characteristic style. While Bethesda has been defending its reputation for occasionally shipping games with bugs or suboptimal optimization, players have already begun to encounter some of the quirkier aspects of the space-faring adventure. These include crew members casually riding on the exteriors of spacecraft in the depths of space and persuasion minigames getting unexpectedly interrupted by combat. In this context, “upgrade your PC” appears to be the most fitting response to the optimization query.
As the conversation continued, Howard was asked about his preferred playstyle in Starfield and what Bethesda envisions for players. He shared, “When I’m doing my ship, I like to focus on shields and defense because you never know what’s going to happen when you jump into a new system.” Howard’s extensive knowledge of the game’s systems is evident. He added, “As far as character builds… there’s so much you can do in the game; it’s like five or six games at once […] whatever you want to do, whatever you’re comfortable with, it’s about players making it their own.”
Towards the end of the interview, the topic shifted to generative AI and whether Bethesda might consider using it in future game development, given the studio’s penchant for creating massive gaming worlds. Howard dropped a fascinating tidbit about Starfield, revealing that the game contains “over three million words.” While he discussed the gaming industry’s trends and challenges, he didn’t provide a clear answer to the AI question. However, it’s likely that Bethesda will indeed explore this technology in the future, although perhaps not right as it launches its most significant game to date.
Todd Howard emphasized that competition in the industry is fierce, standards are high, and Bethesda is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to its fans with each new endeavor. The launch of Starfield promises to be a remarkable chapter in the studio’s legacy.
