2023-09-05 11:07:00
(Bruxelles) Starfieldone of the most anticipated video games of the year, makes its world debut on Wednesday, with all the trappings of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Posted at 7:07
Marc BURLEIGH
Agence France-Presse
Microsoft, at the origin of this launch, is betting big on the success of this game, available on its Xbox Series console and on PC.
A role-playing game in a science fiction universe, it was created by the Bethesda studio, which the American giant acquired in 2020 as part of a total investment of some $7.5 billion, to help it compete with Japanese Sony’s PlayStation.
Microsoft does not intend to stop there and is negotiating the purchase for 75 billion dollars of another major studio, Activision Blizzard, which notably has in its catalog Call of Duty.
Expectations around Starfield have gone up a notch, after good reviews from the specialized press. On the aggregator Metacritic, it thus posted an average score of 88/100 on Tuesday.
Evoking cult sagas like Star Trek, Star Wars et Blade Runnerreviews point out that the game has an epic dimension, with an interesting story and a successful combat system.
“Interactive Movies”
These qualities make these games real “interactive films”, underlines Simon Little, the boss of Video Games Europe, an organization which brings together European developers.
Other recent games are in the same vein, likeHogwarts Legacy created by the teams of Avalanche Software, owned by producer Warner Bros., which dives into the world of Harry Potter, and Baldur’s Gate 3, a role-playing game created by Larian Studios. The latter obtained the score of 96/100 on Metacritic in its version for PC. Its adaptation on PlayStation 5 comes out on Wednesday, the same day as Starfield.
Besides the purchase of Starfield separately for around 70 euros, it will also be possible to access it via the Game Pass, Microsoft’s online game library whose subscription starts at 9.99 euros per month.
With this mode of distribution, the American group hopes to benefit from recurring income by encouraging players to remain subscribers, thanks to updates or the launch of new productions.
“Arousing Curiosity”
“Unlike a book or a movie, which is written, finished and nothing else, a video game is never really finished”, explains Simon Little. “It is always reinforced, modified, extended, just to arouse the curiosity and the interest of the participants to continue the game”.
The Bethesda studio has already launched many games whose universe has been developed little by little, such as Skyrim, still as popular twelve years after its release. In many respects, it has served as a reference for Starfield.
“If you look at our number of players on Skyrimlet’s say last month, and how many millions of people have already played this game, you realize that this is not a game that is measured in hours spent in front of it, “explained last month the vice president of Bethesda, Peter Hines.
The studio hopes that Starfieldwhich includes more than 1000 planets to explore, will display a substantial longevity, thanks to multiple updates, while its main story already requires several dozen hours to complete.
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