Bethesda delayed Starfield in May, confirming what was already on everyone's minds back then.
Fast forward to the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, which Bethesda bookended with a 15-minute gameplay trailer for Starfield, and it's clear why the delay had to happen. This isn't to say that Starfield wasn't impressive in its initial debut. Starfield looks the part of an expensive game. But, you can't deny that Starfield barely broke orbit in its initial debut as it failed to wow audiences enough to make them jump on the rocket-sized bandwagon.
Based on what we just saw, Starfield still lacks the edge that helped make The Elder Scrolls and Fallout so memorable. It could probably still sell millions of copies as is, but we doubt that it will start a new franchise that the studio could circle back to after working on The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5.
By pushing Starfield back from November 11 to Q1 2023 Bethesda gave itself more time to go back to the drawing boards and make the game better. We don't expect Starfield to be perfect when it hit store shelves. We're still talking about Bethesda here, bugs are par for the course. But, with both Starfield and Redfall out of the picture, Microsoft had to find a way to maintain the subscription base of Game Pass, and it's safe to say that the tech giant delivered.