Bethesda has announced via tweet that two of 2022’s most highly anticipated releases will no longer hit this calendar year. Both Redfall and Starfield will now release in the first half of 2023, leaving Xbox with a softened first-party lineup for the rest of the year.
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In its statement, Bethesda stated that it wanted the developers at Arkane Austin and Bethesda Game Studios to have enough time to realize their “incredible ambitions” and delivered the “best, most polished” versions of each game. The company also promised that fans will see a deep dive into gameplay for both titles in the near future, possibly as soon as the Xbox Bethesda showcase in June.
An update on Redfall and Starfield. pic.twitter.com/pqDtx26Uu6
— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 12, 2022
Out of the two games, a delay for Redfall is not that surprising. The vampire first-person shooter has only been shown publicly via a CGI trailer as of now, and many modern AAA games see some sort of delay.
Starfield‘s push is somewhat more surprising, which has seen several rounds of coverage and had already secured in the aesthetically pleasing release date of November 11, 2022. However, the lack of a true gameplay reveal this far after its announcement does seem to lend credence to the idea that it was not ready. Upon the delay announcement, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier suggested that developers within the team wanted to avoid a scenario similar to Cyberpunk 2077 after initially expressing apprehension about releasing on that exact date. This makes sense, as Starfield has the weight of following up Skyrim in addition to the general hype surrounding any big release from Bethesda.
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Without these two tentpoles, Xbox’s 2022 will likely not contain many first-party releases. The publisher has also seen trouble with its Perfect Dark reboot and Rare’s Everwild, leaving very few titles to prop up Xbox’s holiday. At the very least, Xbox should be able to compete handily with the other games that will inevitably slip into 2023 as the months go on.
