"It's more Oblivion than Skyrim": Xbox boss Phil Spencer shares his thoughts on Starfield after 200 hours and 15 playthroughs

Bethesda Game Studio is poised to make its entry into the current decade with a bang. Starfield, its first-ever original IP since The Elder Scrolls, is set to release next month. Through the many delays and setbacks, it is arguably the most anticipated role-playing game since Elden Ring. As the finalized D-day for its launch closes in, the cloud of hype surrounding it has begun to condense in the ongoing Gamescom 2023.

Gamescom is the world's largest trade fair for video games, and one of the biggest platforms for both developers and fans to congregrate and celebrate gaming. Held in Cologne, Germany, this week-long event is a natural hub for AAA game devs and industry-big leagues.

This includes the likes of Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming executive and head of the Xbox brand. On the opening night, Phil conversed with the press across numerous interviews on dev-related details and games, including Starfield.

According to him, Starfield is more comparable to Oblivion, the fourth entry in the Elder Scrolls franchise, than the more popular Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He said:

"I think it's more Oblivion than Skyrim - for people who've played, maybe they'll get that. It is an epic, epic game."

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'Super excited' Phil Spencer hints that Starfield might overtake Skyrim as Bethesda's most successful title

Phil spencer says starfield "is more Oblivion than Skyrim" by u/SeriousEar2971 in Starfield

Even though its popularity is eclipsed by the largely popular game Skyrim, Oblivion pioneered many of the immersive world design concepts that would help its sequel skyrocket into the status of Bethesda's magnum opus.

Starfield's likeness to Oblivion is meant to be a compliment to the upcoming game's attention to detail and stellar quest writing, a department where Oblivion outperforms Skyrim.

Phil Spencer has been playing Starfield since November 2022, which was the original release date for the game. It has been reported that he has put in over 200 hours ever since across various play-testing builds of the game.

This is not 200 hours in the same campaign but divided into 15 playthroughs. Phil went through the ordeal of creating numerous characters, hinting at multiple character origins. Different starting points in the story based on the character's origin is a beloved but rare system in role-playing games, championed by Dragon Age: Origins.

Starfield was featured in a closed-doors 300-person limited showcase of the game's opening minutes, where the player character is a miner who comes across an artifact that gives him certain special abilties.

Starfield Creative Director Todd Howard also hinted a similar notion following the game's live action teaser segment featured in Gamescom opening night, saying:

"The story goes a lot of places... the game has a lot of surprises that we haven't talked about."

Phil also commented that the highest amount of campaign progress has been made on his latest character, a 'total space pirate.'