Summary
2023 may not have been the best year for the gaming industry as a whole, with an incredibly disappointing number of layoffs in recent months and some controversial business practices all year round, but it has been an undeniably excellent year for video game releases themselves. Since about March, there’s been a non-stop cavalcade of huge video game releases, with long-awaited sequels, remakes, andexciting new Indie gamesall dropping within quick succession. By far one of the biggest releases of the year has been Bethesda’sStarfield.
A game over seven years in the making,Starfieldmarked the first single-player Bethesda game sinceFallout 4, and the first major Bethesda project since themuch-malignedFallout 76. A lot was riding onStarfield, and thanks toRedfall’s disappointing release earlier in the year, it wasn’t just Bethesda’s redemption on the line, but Xbox’s as well. But whileStarfieldseemed like a pretty big success at first, its following reception and the recent Game Awards nominee announcements may end up severely impacting both Bethesda and Xbox in the near future.
Starfield’s Lack of Recognition at The Game Awards Puts Bethesda in a Precarious Spot
Starfield Might Not Have Been the True Success That Bethesda or Xbox Expected
On its initial September 1 early access release,Starfieldreceived a fairly mixed reception. The day beforeStarfield’s early release, critics dropped their reviews, some of which praised the game generously and said it easily lived up to Bethesda’s most prestigious past titles, while others claimed the game had some glaring issues and probably wouldn’t be as memorable asSkyrimorFalloutbefore it.
That divisive critical reception seemed to carry over to the fan reception as well, with some players adoring the game, but others really disliking it and believing it to be a step back for Bethesda’s formula in a few key ways. Regardless of its reception,Starfieldwas touted as a huge success for bothBethesda and Xbox, with the game having achieved over 10 million players by September 21, just a few weeks after launch. However, that apparent success hasn’t really translated to the upcoming Game Awards.
Last week, Geoff Keighley announced the nominees for theupcoming Game Awards 2023 ceremony, set to take place on December 7. As gamers expected, this year’s Game Awards is absolutely packed to the brim with nominees that definitely deserve their spot, though that does mean that some big games have been snubbed, andStarfieldis certainly one of those.Starfieldhas only been nominated for one Game Award, and that’s for Best RPG of the year.
The Next Bethesda Game Has a Ridiculously High Bar to Reach
While awards certainly aren’t everything,Starfield’s lack of nominations at this year’s Game Awards is pretty telling of the game’s current status a few months from launch. While it may have been a major success for Bethesda and Xbox,Starfieldhas seemingly failed to reach the upper echelons of this year’s video game output, at least critically. What’s worse is thatStarfieldprobably doesn’t have much of a chance of winning the one Game Award it’s been nominated for.
No matter how much die-hard fans enjoyedStarfield, it’s going up against some ridiculously good games in the Game Awards' Best RPG category. FromFinal Fantasy 16, toLies of P, toSea of Stars, and (biggest of all)Baldur’s Gate 3,Starfieldrealistically doesn’t stand much of a chance when all is said and done. This will undoubtedly put even more pressure on Bethesda’s next project,Elder Scrolls 6, which is already a game that fans are simply expecting to be one of the greatest games ever made right off the bat.
Starfield
WHERE TO PLAY
Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
