Starfield on Xbox is like Zelda on Nintendo, says Todd Howard
Bethesda's top dog had a bit to say about Starfield's Xbox exclusivity.
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Todd Howard, game director of Starfield and executive producer at Bethesda, has shared some of his thoughts on the studio's latest being an Xbox exclusive.
For some, the point of Starfield being exclusive to Xbox Series X/S is a bit of a contentious one, as both Skyrim and Fallout 4 were available on PlayStation consoles. But in a new interview with the BBC, Howard touched on the console exclusivity, making comparisons with the ways people associate Nintendo with its games. "When you're making something exclusive then the more you can focus," Howard said.
"You know this is the hardware or the thing people are playing on, so the ability to focus on that always yields a better product. You do want people to be able to access it of course. But being with Xbox means there is an ease of access for us and I'm told we're expecting more people playing this launch than anything we've ever done before and that's despite the success of our previous games."
Howard specifically referenced Zelda in his comments, saying, "I do also think people attach brands to certain games. When you think of Zelda you think of the Switch and I think there are times when that can be a real benefit." On that point, you can't argue with Howard, as apart from some very rare cases, there's never been a Zelda game on another platform. Personally, I'm not a fan of console exclusivity, including Nintendo games - to be able to play exclusive games across all three major platforms, you're looking at spending at least around a grand, which is just a bit excessive.
At the very least Starfield is available on PC, so you don't exactly have to own an Xbox in order to play it. But it's interesting that Howard sees the Bethesda brand being so closely linked to Xbox. Microsoft only closed its acquisition of Bethesda in 2021, making Starfield the first game from the developer to be released as an Xbox exclusive, so it'll probably be some time until Bethesda games are thought of in the same way Zelda is to Nintendo.