Starfield’s Budget Might Exceed $200 Million, With Over 500 Developers Working on the Game
Xbox hasn’t been on the front-foot when it comes to exclusives, and that has been a trend we’ve been seeing for the past few years – until now. Starfield, Bethesda’s star-game (either way), after being in development for eight long years will finally release later this week (pre-release), and all eyes are on the game.
Over the past one, or two weeks, we’ve been seeing some playtesters leaking parts of the game, and while it does look amazing, it didn’t come without a hefty price. Reports have concluded that Bethesda spend almost north of $200 million on the game, which is almost the same budget as Elden Ring, (GOTY 2022) had spent.
But, why would anyone spend so much on a game, in both the financial, and the marketing aspects. Well, for one, the game actually is HUGE. It encompasses thousands of planets, stars, and interstellar space exploration, so no wonder a lot of resources would be needed. For a rough estimate, the Starfield team almost comprises of 500 employees.
The game’s being developed on the Creation Engine 2, which is apparently one of the most powerful game engines out there. Also, the game’s marketed as a “next generation role-playing game,” which certainly means the game also has to be visually appealing to a larger audience. So, it’s no surprise that a higher budget would’ve been expected.
Still, it is way lower than what Rockstar spent on Red Dead Redemption 2 – a whopping $540 million! It’s only a matter of days now that we can tell if all these resources were either well spent, or a hype train wreck.
The game will be available for pre-release on August 31, 2023, and will be released for Xbox Series X/S and PC on September 6, 2023. It will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
