Long before the release of Starfield, it was told that the game would have around 1,000 planets to explore but only some of them would have life. The game has got its well-deserved appreciation but some players have also targeted the game for not delivering the amount of exploration it had promised with plenty of planets just being empty. It is also important to note that around 10% of planets in Starfield have life on them and achieving even that explains why Bethesda took so much time making the game and further delays in its release.
Bethesda Backs Their Decision for Empty Planets in Starfield
Bethesda has stood behind its decision to knowingly include empty, barren planets and insisted that it’s all by design. Ashley Cheng, managing director at Bethesda said that the reason behind this decision was to make the players appreciate the greatness of the galaxy that they are in and understand the isolation one would feel in space. According to Cheng, Starfield developers were sure about their decision that not every planet “is supposed to be Disney World.” They said:
“The point of the vastness of space is you should feel small. It should feel overwhelming. Everyone’s concerned that empty planets are going to be boring. But when the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.”
Starfield came under the radar when players exploring the world discovered that all the planets in the game are not equal and most of them are just empty as they go further. Cheng explained that the game wants to bring in realism and a deeper understanding of the vast space than just using the typical sci-fi elements.
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The Starfield Developers Team Deliberately Built Moments of Loneliness
It seems like Bethesda is accusing players of feeling bored for wandering on empty planets and they should travel through the vastness of Starfield‘s universe and immerse them in its greatness. Bethesda executive Todd Howard said that if Starfield had fewer but very busy planets, it would have crushed the sense of exploration and discovery that Starfield aims to deliver to its players. He said,
“We could have made a game where there are four cities and four planets. “But that would not have the same feeling of being this explorer.”
Todd Howard further added that the developers’ team at Bethesda knowingly built such moments where players would “get some periods of loneliness” and when they would discover something on other planets it would give players a sense of achievement and discovery in Starfield. It looks like the team at Bethesda is ready to tackle and defend the decisions they made with the game.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun
