Bethesda has announced that it is postponing two games, including the highly anticipated Starfield, and revealed new release windows.

Last year, Bethesda announced the release date for Starfield as November 11, 2022. This has always been a special date for Bethesda, and some may know it as the anniversary of the release of Skyrim. While this release date announcement came incredibly early, it still made sense. Bethesda has also said repeatedly that they are confident they can keep the release date for Starfield. However, in a shocking announcement, Bethesda has postponed the highly anticipated sci-fi RPG and Arkane Studios’ Redfall.

Starfield was positioned as one of the biggest releases of the upcoming holiday season, especially for Xbox. The delay of Starfield means that there are currently no major Xbox first-party exclusives for the busiest gaming season of the year. However, it should be noted that this could easily change at the upcoming Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, which will take place on June 9 at 10am PT/12pm CT.

In an announcement on its social media page, Bethesda confirmed the delay of Starfield and Redfall, revealing that they will now be released in the first half of 2023. Depending on exactly when it’s released, this delay means Starfield could launch 2-7 months later than planned. Redfall never had a publicly announced release date, just a release window. On the one hand, there have been a lot of delays over the last couple of years, and on the other hand, this one is shocking just because of how special that date was for Bethesda.

An update on Redfall and Starfield. pic.twitter.com/pqDtx26Uu6

— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 12, 2022

Both Bethesda and Arkane are committed to releasing their games in the most polished state possible, hence the reason for the delay. Bethesda concluded the announcement by saying that they are looking forward to showing fans gameplay for Starfield and Redfall “soon”, perhaps suggesting that both games will still be at Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. Both have been pretty much a given before and are unlikely to be missed this time around. This breaks with Bethesda’s typical approach of a big reveal in the summer followed by a release later in the year, but if it results in a better game at launch, then many will be happy.

Recently a former Bethesda employee leaked some Starfield details and commented on the possibility of a delay. While it has been suggested that it is possible, it has also been suggested that Bethesda may cut content to keep the now delayed release date. In fact, it has been suggested that the game has too much content, and Bethesda is focused on “finding the fun” and fixing the bugs in this “content overload”, but how this will ultimately play out remains to be seen.

Starfield and Redfall will now be released in the first half of 2023.

Source: Gamerant