The holiday period for both Xbox and Bethesda has just taken a sizeable hit with its tentpole title Starfield, and greatly anticipated co-op games as service title Redfall both delayed into early 2023.
In a tweet shared by the Bethesda Twitter Account it was shared that both Redfall and Starfield, originally scheduled for Q2 and 11.11 respectively are now both moving into the first half of the new calendar year.
The tweet states: “We’ve made the decision to delay the launches of Redfall and Starfield to the first half of 2023. The teams at Arkane Austin (Redfall), and Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) have incredible ambitions for their games, and we want to ensure that you receive the best, most polished versions of them. We want to thank everyone for their excitement for Redfall and Starfield. That energy is a huge part of what inspires all of us every day and drives our own excitement for what we are creating. We can’t wait to share our first deep dive into the gameplay of both Redfall and Starfield soon.”
Of course what this means for that gameplay is now up in limbo. The prevailing fan theories were that we’d see significant portions of both games at the upcoming Xbox and Bethesda showcase, but with both games moving into a new calendar year, perhaps this will prompt both Microsoft and Bethesda to rethink their marketing plans.
No reason has been cited for the delay, though with both games being worked on during a pandemic, it’s easy to see where delays may stem from. It was at Xbox’s E3 2021 presentation where Starfield was dated and where Redfall was first revealed, so with an event coming in 2022 that lines up nicely with when both games were last shown, we still cannot rule out the possibility of both getting a substacial showing, in spite of their respective delays.
What this means for Xbox and their upcoming slate of titles also remains unknown. Both Redfall and Starfield were two of their biggest hitters for the year, while others like S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 have been delayed and then further challenged due to the Russian/Ukrainian conflict. Expect more commentary about all the delays from Xbox and Bethesda soon.