With Starfield's long-awaited launch upon us, Bethesda has been doing the media rounds to chat about the upcoming RPG. The studio has released a few buggy games in its history, so a question was eventually raised about the bug in the room – a timely subject with Starfield already releasing via pre-order early access.
"We embrace chaos," head of global publishing Pete Hines tells GamesIndustry.biz. "We could make a safer, less buggy, less risky game if we wanted to. But what we try to lean into is player freedom. Yes, there's going to be some little things here and there where your companion might stand a little too close to you sometimes, yet the freedom you get, and the things that happen because of that, we absolutely love and embrace.
"Of course there are bugs. But does it take away from your experience? Or do you have a consistent, fun game that you just can't stop playing and experimenting with?"
To Bethesda's credit, Starfield has launched in pretty good condition. Going by the generally positive Starfield reviews, you'll see a visual oddity here and there but nothing earth-shattering that'll disrupt your save.
We're pretty big on it, too. Our Starfield review gives the space RPG a perfect score, calling it "the best thing Bethesda's done since Oblivion."
"Starfield isn't really a game you play to complete, it's more about living whatever sort of life you want in the literal universe Bethesda has created," our own Leon says. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, you almost certainly can do it, and the scale is almost a release in a way – you'll probably never see or do it all, so just enjoy the moment. There are months, if not years, of discoveries buried away in here, and even after 80 hours I can't wait to see more."
The Starfield map, however, is not going down well.
