Starfield will be the most important title Xbox has released since Halo.
This is my last fight. A true test of legends Our story will outlive us both....Set a fire in your heart, Spartan. These words have stuck with me since 2020. Escharum gives an emotion-driven battle speech, preparing Master Chief for the upcoming fights to be had in Halo Infinite. To 99.9% of people who watched the 202 showcase I'm sure these words came off as just another part of an advertisement for the upcoming titles meant to build as much hype and excitement as they could for the game, but to me, it was much, much more than that.
In my headcannon and overanalyzing of the room, this speech felt like an indirect call to Xbox fans: gone were the days of waiting for experiences; gone were the days of a fanbase that was always waiting for the next big thing. Halo Infinite was going to be the big turning point for Xbox; this was going to be the epic journey fans have been begging for for years. Xbox was about to take a 90-degree turn down a new, inspired path of success. In the end, we know how that panned out: Halo Infinite released to overwhelming praise but quickly fizzled out with a lack of content and legacy features or promises being completely backtracked on to focus on what the game would be moving forward. Nowadays, it seems to be doing much better with an incredibly optimistic fanbase and active players, but that push from Microsoft and the fire the community had were gone. We were now at a period of time with no real clear future for a major tent pole holding the brand up. Halo has carried Xbox and is the driving factor that made it what it is today, but we’ve been long overdue for something new to be the face of Xbox.
Promotional wallpaper for Starfield provided by Bethesda
Enter Starfield. The big new space epic from the legendary team at Bethesda, led by everyone's favorite curly-haired storyteller Todd Howard. Going into next month Starfield is going to be the most thoroughly analyzed game to release for the team at Bethesda. By now, we know the marketing and history behind the game. The first new IP from Bethesda in 20 years and the followup to critically acclaimed titles like Skyrim and Fallout 4, it's the biggest game Bethesda has ever made, and to me, it may be the most important release Xbox has and will have for the next 10 years. This isn't to discredit the talented teams across the Xbox umbrella: Forza has been dominating sales and players recently, with the most recent numbers going over 30 million active players. Psychonauts 2 was my favorite game of 2021 and one of the most thought-provoking experiences I've had in recent memory. A huge shout out to the surprise hit of this year Hi- Fi Rush is a title many would say should be leading the new branding for Xbox going forward. All of these games have been great, note-worthy experiences, but they haven't been put on a pedestal the way Starfield has been positioned.
We're currently three years into the console generation, with literally a handful of first-party titles that could be considered "next-gen experiences". Starfield is being pushed as the unofficial start of the next wave of Xbox. This doesn't mean that the future success of the brand is solely placed on the shoulders of this one game, but it definitely will set a precedent going forward. Now more than ever, Xbox needs to show it can hang with other publishers and developers in putting out game of the year-worthy contender titles. They have been hitting home runs after home runs in the hardware and service departments, mostly laying down a red carpet for Game Pass wherever they can, but the overall output of titles has been less than stellar. Starfield isn't going to somehow shift this and start making people convert to Xbox from other systems; that's insane and shouldn't be given second thought either. It can, however, start to change the conversation around Xbox and where they stand in the industry as a whole.
With a slew of new IP being introduced like South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, and the return of Fable and Perfect Dark on the horizon. Starfield will be the first domino piece that falls into all of these and sets the precedent for people's initial feelings toward Microsoft Game Studios titles. If it can put itself in a position to mimic the deafening praise and admiration that Skyrim has, it has a chance of being placed in the history books as one of the best titles to ever come from Xbox. Players have been waiting years to put their full support behind something and have a title they can be proud to show off and talk about with their friend groups. The hype and conversation around this one game have been at an all-time high, and if that's something Xbox can grab just a few strands of and run with into next year, I see a way brighter and more positive future for the brand as a whole, the players, and what comes next.