Summary
Bethesda Executive Producer Todd Howard recapped the development ofStarfieldin a touching internal memo that leaked online mere days ahead of the RPG’s much anticipated release. While the newly surfaced communication primarily serves as a thank you to everyone who made the upcoming game possible, it also underlines howStarfieldhas been a long time coming.
Howard often reiterated how Bethesda wanted to do a space-fairing RPG since the late 90s. And while the company already secured the trademark for its next game in 2013,Starfieldonly started development several years later, after the studio releasedFallout 4in 2015.
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An internal memo obtained by Windows Central has now shed some more light on the circumstances leading up toStarfieldgetting a green light from Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media. The note—sent to numerous teams at Xbox, Microsoft, and Bethesda itself—opens with Howard recalling how he first pitchedStarfieldin 2013 to Robert A. Altman, the founder and then-CEO of ZeniMax. Although Altman “looked concerned” when he learned that the concept represented Bethesda’s first new IP since the 1996The Elder Scrolls: Arena, he was on board with the idea by the time Howard finished his pitch, the memo reads.
Bethesda’s executive producer recalled how Altman continued supporting the project “no matter the situation” in the years that followed, although he never got to see the end result of Bethesda’s development efforts. Namely, theZeniMax Media founder passed away in early 2021, aged 73. Apart from Altman, Howard also thanked Bethesda’s development, publishing, and quality assurance teams, as well as the company’s HR department, for helping the studio endure the “most challenging years” in its 37-year history.
The final stretch ofStarfield’s development marked some exceedingly turbulent times for Bethesda, starting with the 2020 global pandemic that had a significant impact on its day-to-day operations. Altman’s subsequent passing was then followed byMicrosoft’s acquisition of Bethesda and the rest of ZeniMax Mediathe following year. However, the tech giant employed a rather hands-off approach to managing its 2021 purchase, to the point that ZeniMax continued operating as a separate entity instead of being incorporated into Xbox Game Studios.
Howard remarked on the company’s new ownership in the internal memo by thanking Xbox Head Phil Spencer for his continued support ofStarfieldand every other title under Microsoft’s vast umbrella. “I cannot imagine a better place to create games,” the industry veteran wrote, noting how the rest of Xbox leadership proved to be equally supportive of the project since the ZeniMax acquisition. Every staffer who received Howard’s memo was also given a copy ofStarfield’sPremium Edition, allowing them to play the game as soon as it enters early access on September 1.
Starfieldlaunches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
