Brooke Clutterbuck

Microsoft announced back in September it had purchased ZeniMax Media , which owns Bethesda and id Software, among other companies, for $7.5 billion. This dealt a massive blow to Sony in the console war leading up to the next-gen release this month. The acquisition, which should finish up sometime in 2021, gives Microsoft exclusive rights to the majority of Bethesda's best franchises, including Fallout , DOOM , and The Elder Scrolls , in addition to Bethesda's upcoming space RPG Starfield . Bethesda will still retain a certain degree of autonomy as developers will be able to publish titles for PlayStation on a "case by case" basis. However, Microsoft has gained a huge advantage in taking exclusivity of Bethesda's strongest tit Several images first posted to the infamous 4Chan message boards have been shared across social media (thanks, Okami13_ ), purported to be screenshots from a 2018 build of Starfield . The first image shows a third-person perspective on an futuristic-looking astronaut wielding a shotgun according to the game's HUD, although the weapon is not seen on the player model. In addition to a health and stamina meter, there also appears to be a meter for oxygen, which would be a key component in any game that wants to realistically depict space exploration. The second image appears to be concept art of one of the game's spaceships, and it certainly matches the space station briefly seen in the game's official teaser trailer back in 2 For a few hours, the leaked Starfield screenshot looked really exciting, until it was debunked by the community. Interestingly, Skullzi has a record of reliable reports, and earlier in 2020, he leaked and confirmed a few other Starfield screenshots that were proven to be true. This time, however, the insider fell victim to the hype surrounding Bethesda's anticipated sci-fi RPG. That's a great lesson for everyone who naively assumes that everything they see on the Internet is t Starfield was announced at E3 2018, and since then, next to nothing has been revealed about the game. The few scraps of information that Bethesda has made public since - like the fact that Starfield will be an exclusively single-player game - have come very recently. At its reveal, Bethesda said that there was still a long wait in store for Starfield, and there are no hints as to when that wait will be over yet. All that’s known on the subject is that starfield Companions|https://Starfieldgalaxy.Com/ is expected to launch before the long-awaited Elder Scrolls Speculation aside, players will likely see Bethesda present a huge gameplay portion before going into launch details on Starfield . Even if these leaked images are legitimate, they really only confirm the most base rumors about the game, serving the generate more hype for something that is almost completely unknown. That's the problem with showing logos at press conferences, they build undue hype for games before the real work is done. There's a huge risk in releasing a let down in the eyes of the public if a game with such buildup isn't the next big thing. For Starfield , the cat is out of the bag, and one can only imagine the pressure on the team to craft a whole new world that also serves as the next Skyr Upcoming titles The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one of their launches, according to Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard. Microsoft's acquisition of the company isn't yet wrapped up, but this news indicates both parties are confident the deal will finish without a hi That made the potential Starfield screenshot leak this fall even more exciting, as it represented the first look at an otherwise mysterious project from one of the biggest game developers around. While their validity was called into question at the time, it now seems more likely that they were legitimate. That’s thanks to Bethesda managing director Ashley Cheng, who recently appeared in a montage from Develop:Brighton, where Todd Howard was accepting a Develop:Star Award. As spotted by Reddit user Rynderend , Cheng is seen wearing a Starfield shirt with a logo on the sleeve identical to the one shown on the character’s spacesuit in the leaked Starfield screenshot. The matching logos lend credence to the screenshot being real, as it would be quite the coincidence if Bethesda just happened to pick the same design for its Starfield merchand In 2020, the game has been heavily featured in Microsoft's promotion of its purchase of Bethesda, placing the game alongside not only its fellow internal RPGs but huge shooter franchises like Doom and Wolfenstein . Despite the announcement and promotion, there's no indication as to when Starfield will release, and Bethesda representatives have said in interviews that fans will still need to be very patient while waiting for the far-off game . Work on the new IP, which is the first in over a decade for the studio, has been going on a decade itself, with a trademark filing in 2013 giving the first public indication of the new property. Following that, the rumor mill has been relatively quiet - until today, that