There Were Originally Three Versions Of Starfield Planned, According To Ex 3D Game Artist

Summary Original plans for Starfield included a multi-platform release, but Microsoft's acquisition made it an Xbox exclusive.

Concerns about Sony possibly making Starfield a PlayStation exclusive influenced Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda.

Despite current exclusivity, there's potential for a PlayStation version of Starfield in the future due to prior work on PS5 compatibility.

According to a job description on LinkedIn, there were originally three versions of Starfield planned, with it being intended as a multi-platform release. Ultimately, Microsoft's acquisition of Zenimax Media, the owners of Bethesda Game Studios, the studio's massive space RPG was an Xbox console exclusive and launched on Xbox Series S/X and PC in September 2023.

As reported by Tech4Gamers, the Experience section of Jason Tonks’ LinkedIn profile showed that during his time working as a 3D Artist at Bethesda Game Studios between 2017 and 2021, a PlayStation 5 version of Starfield was also in the works. To make matters more interesting, with multi-platform releases, studios tend to target the lead console manufacturer at the time to invest their energy in ensuring it works on that device first while porting it to the others, a strategy revealed by former Rockstar Games animator, Mike York in a YouTube video. PlayStation was the best-selling console at the time, so it is possible Bethesda may have been working primarily on a PS5 version before the Microsoft buyout.

Related Will Starfield Ever Come To PS5? Starfield is a PC and Xbox exclusive following Microsoft's acquisition of its developer, Bethesda, but could the game ever come to PlayStation 5?

Microsoft Was Worried Sony Wanted Starfield As A PS5 Exclusive

Which Was One Of The Factors In Its Acquisition Of Bethesda

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During a hearing with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (via TheVerge), it was revealed that a huge part of the reason Microsoft acquired Bethesda is due to Xbox's CEO Phil Spencer being concerned that Sony was going to make Starfield a PlayStation exclusive and skip Xbox, or at least be a timed exclusive. This would align previous rumors, and with what PlayStation had done with other titles owned by ZeniMax such as Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, which further establishes that Bethesda could have been working primarily on a PS5 version of the game.

With so much work likely being done on making Starfield run on PS5, this could indicate that a PlayStation version of the game could be released at some point, albeit likely after many years of exclusivity on Xbox to make the most out of Microsoft's investment. Recently, Microsoft has been releasing formerly Xbox-exclusive titles on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in a move that's been extremely profitable, with there being such demand for Sea of Thieves that it crashed the game's servers at launch. Since then, many Xbox owned titles have been in the top 25 best-selling list on the PlayStation store.

While Phil Spencer did announce that Starfield wasn't going to be among the titles coming to PS5 any time soon, with the years of work that's already been done on making the title run on these devices before Microsoft bought the company, at least there's probably a solid foundation to build upon if Microsoft were to opt to make it multi-platform at some point.

Sources: Jason Tonks/LinkedIn (Via. Tech4Gamers), TheVerge