Starfield is still set to launch in "the first half of 2023", and fans think it could arrive on April 12

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The launch of Bethesda's epic sci-fi RPG could coincide with The International Day of Human Space Flight

Starfield screenshot
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Starfield is, thankfully, still set to launch in "the first half of 2023", and fans think we could have lift off on April 12.

As spotted by Twitter user Klobrille, the support page for Bethesda's hotly anticipated space odyssey is now live. Granted, it's not the most exciting webpage in the world, but it does reconfirm that Starfield is launching on Xbox Series X|S and PC in "the first half of 2023". Back in October last year, Bethesda delayed the launch of Starfield from November 11, 2022, to early 2023 to ensure fans get to experience the "best, most polished version". Redfall, the open-world cooperative FPS published by Bethesda and developed by Arkane Studios Austin, also had its release pushed back to early 2023. 

With Starfield's launch window reconfirmed, fans are speculating when we'll get our hands on the mammoth space RPG. "I'm gonna guess an April release date, so it's before Redfall," says user bladestorm78 on the Starfield subreddit. Many others think an April launch is also on the cards, including Shadow27AU, who gives a compelling argument for the game releasing on April 12. "April 12th is International Day of Human Space Flight", they wrote on a separate subreddit. "That would be very fitting."

Other fans are hopeful the game will launch even sooner than that, specifically March 23. Not only is it the kind of quirky release date that Bethesda tends to aim for, but as Reddit user, Corviak points out, it's also "the date that America launched its first two-person astronaut flight." With 2023 now in full swing, we won't have long to wait to see if any of these fan theories turn out to be right on the money.

A recent video from Bethesda gave us more of an idea of what to expect when Starfield does finally launch. According to lead quest designer Will Shen, we'll get to explore "what happened to Earth" before humanity moved to Mars". Shen also discussed how Starfield's random encounters will involve whole procedural mini-quests with multiple locations, characters, and storylines.

Take a look at all the biggest and best games set to launch this year with our guide to new games 2023. 

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.