Starfield ‘more Oblivion than Skyrim’ says Xbox boss Phil Spencer

Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed Starfield is “more like Oblivion than Skyrim“, having dedicated over 200 hours to the game.

Bethesda’s Xbox-exclusive behemoth is now right around the corner, with the countdown until the release of Starfield now well and truly on.

Throughout Starfield’s development, comparisons have been made to previous Bethesda titles like Skyrim and Fallout 4, with the game publisher’s backlog of catalogs paving the way for the launch of the new IP.

However, Xbox boss Spencer told IGN at Gamescom that Starfield is more like Oblivion than some of the more recent Bethesda titles—and he’s certainly experienced enough to give such an insight.

Spencer revealed he has been playing Starfield since Nov. 22 and is now into his 15th playthrough, as development changes to things like saved data often meant continuing a playthrough from a previous build was not possible.

In total, he estimates he has sunk around 200 hours of playtime into Starfield across all of his playthroughs combined and his character approach is always to be a space pirate.

It’s the variety of Starfield’s RPG mechanics that make the game so attractive to gamers as, while some like Spencer will enjoy being a space pirate, others may opt for a more peaceful style in their playthrough.

That provides Starfield with a wealth of replayability and the opportunity to have an entirely different experience playing the game than your friends, which keeps things fresh.

I’m just counting down the days until I dive in and can bring my former space cop to life in a new adventure.