UPDATE
What do you make of Bethesda taking a year to debug their newest title? Do you see the results of their hard work? Let us know below!
ORIGINAL STORY
As gamers have been reminded time and time again over the last several years, the bug testing phase of a video game’s development is arguably one of the most important things that has to be done well, or else the game will be incredibly problematic at launch. We can all think of recent titles in the last year or two that have suffered heavily because the game was rushed to release instead of spending more time in QA. With bigger titles like Starfield, the QA process is even MORE intensive because the developers have more to deal with regarding characters, worlds, vehicles, etc.
During an interview that you can see below, Todd Howard was asked about what bug testing was like for Starfield. In response, Todd noted how the game was done by last year’s end. However, they took the extra time that they had to ensure that as many bugs were fixed before the launch in September:
“We tested the game all year. Playing it all the time, tweaking it and fixing it.”
At first, that might seem a bit excessive. But do recall that players can visit thousands of worlds within the title. Many of these can only be found as players intentionally explore the section of the universe. When you add that to all the customizable options that players have between their looks, their outfits, weapons, crew members, and more, you see just how much there is to test. All it takes is one big bug to wreck the whole thing.
An irony of Bethesda doing this with their new IP is that the game developer has a history with its other significant franchises of leaving potentially odd bugs within the game at launch. For example, a certain fantasy title was infamous for the bugs that plagued it, including certain massive dragons flying backward through the sky.
That’s not to say that Starfield is flawless, as a game of this size could never predict every bug, and plenty of players have noted buggy problems with the title, especially on PC. However, when compared to past releases, this one doesn’t seem as bad. As a result, you could argue that this will be the “process” for the developer going forward, as they do have other games in the works, including a new entry in that fantasy franchise.
Plus, if any significant bugs pop up, they’ll make a patch to fix them toot sweet.
