Starfield fans think one screenshot proves the year-long delay was worth it

Starfield fans are going wild over a single screenshot.

Well that's two screenshots, to be precise, but they're both showcasing the same thing. When the Starfield Direct premiered yesterday, it brought with it a tonne of new gameplay, and Starfield fans think they've found one frame that resembles another we previously saw over a year ago in summer 2022.

You can see the two screenshots just below. The first one is from the summer 2022 demo of Starfield from Bethesda, back when the RPG was slated to launch in November 2022, while the second screenshot comes from yesterday's Starfield Direct, right around a year after the first gameplay demo.

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The results of a 12 month delay. from r/Starfield

The result, Starfield fans think, is one hell of a better-looking game, and proof that the 12-month delay for Bethesda's game was worth it. "The changes to New Atlantis are mind blowing," writes one fan of one of Starfield's most noteworthy locations so far.

"As much as I hated the delay at the time, I admit that it was 100% worth it. Looks much better than before," chimes in another fan. The general sentiment on the Starfield subreddit post is that Bethesda taking their time for the game has made it into something fans are immediately more looking forward to.

Oddly enough, this is sort of what Xbox head Phil Spencer was going on about in a recent interview. After the Xbox Games Showcase yesterday, Spencer appeared on a livestream to reveal that Starfield was originally set to launch much earlier than November 2022. This was before Xbox acquired Bethesda's parent company though, and it sounds like Spencer told Bethesda to really take their time with Starfield.

It could be thanks to Xbox's management, therefore, that Starfield looks this much better over a year later. We don't have all that long to wait to see how the rest of Starfield looks, since it'll be launching in just a few months from now on September 6, across PC and Xbox Series X/S.

You can head over to our upcoming Xbox Series X games guide for a look at all the other new-gen exclusives coming to Xbox's console this year.

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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.