Xbox boss wants Starfield to be "most-played" Bethesda game ever

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Could it even outlive Skyrim?

Starfield Akila
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Xbox's Phil Spencer wants Starfield to be the "most-played" game made by Bethesda's Todd Howard ever.

Yesterday in a tweet thread, Axios gaming reporter Stephen Totilo published a slate of remarks he received when interviewing Xbox boss Phil Spencer earlier this year. In particular, Totilo highlighted the comment seen just below, revealing that Spencer is aiming to make Starfield the "most-played" game released by Bethesda creative director Todd Howard ever.

That is quite the enormous challenge. Howard has released a suite of Elder Scrolls and Fallout games under Bethesda over the last two decades, all of which can be played for hundreds of hours, eagerly offering players brand new content hidden in the far reaches of their massive in-game worlds. 

Heck, people are still playing Skyrim, a game that celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, to this very day. So strong is the following for Skyrim over a decade later, that Bethesda released Skyrim: Anniversary Edition late last year, bundling in previous DLC and expansions, as well as brand new aspects like fishing to the ten-year-old game.

For Starfield to top Skyrim's decade-plus of play time is no small feat. Still, Spencer obviously has high hopes for the spacefaring RPG, which is set to launch later this year on November 11, exclusively for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S (plus Xbox Game Pass on day one). So far, we've seen a number of Starfield's in-game worlds, but we really hope it's not just "Skyrim in space". 

Even one of us spent our Winter break playing Skyrim instead of a new game.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

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.