One thing that makes Starfield exciting is its potential to reimagine a classic aspect of sci-fi. Tons of creators have written stories about humanity exploring outer space, but for Bethesda, it's a relatively fresh genre. Bethesda has a lot of famous franchises, including sci-fi adventures like Fallout, but it doesn't usually emphasize space travel in its games. That means that, although Bethesda has plenty of competitors in the genre of intergalactic adventure, it'll bring another unique perspective to the genre that should make Starfield great. The concept of exploring space always remains enticing, so there's no harm in Bethesda throwing its hat in the ring.
In terms of competition for Starfield, there's plenty of potential rival games in development, from Star Wars games to Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds 2. Another game that could be impacted by Starfield is Beyond Good and Evil 2, the long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed 2003 game. Although Beyond Good and Evil 2 famously incorporates plenty of spacefaring themes, it might struggle to compete with Starfield once Bethesda releases the game. Beyond Good and Evil 2's slow progress means Starfield has a huge upper hand, and Beyond Good and Evil might struggle to keep up with Bethesda's game.
Starfield's Voyage Into Space
Bethesda has managed to keep Starfield information under wraps pretty well, even though fans have known about it for years thanks to its teaser at E3 2018. Now that Starfield got a full trailer at E3 2021, it's starting to open up about the game. It's clear that space travel is an important part of the game; the protagonist is a member of a space exploration organization called Constellation. Game director Todd Howard, famed for his work on many of Bethesda's biggest franchises, has already compared Starfield to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. That should give fans a sense of the liberty they'll have in exploring the depths of space, interacting with fellow explorers and uncovering the universe's mystery at their own pace. The 'NASA punk' aesthetic at the heart of Starfield seems to suggest that fans will never be far from trusty spacefaring vessels.
Starfield's emphasis on traveling between planets sounds great. It's a premise that games like No Man's Sky have proven can go a long way, so it's good to see Bethesda take a crack at it. Ubisoft should be on high alert based on what Todd Howard and Bethesda have said about Starfield so far. Ubisoft's Beyond Good and Evil 2 is supposed to largely involve exploring planets too, playing into the first game's alien conspiracy. If Ubisoft wants to make Beyond Good and Evil's space travel count, it needs to stand up to Starfield, which could be a tall order. Influential as Ubisoft may be, Beyond Good and Evil 2's decade of development doesn't inspire confidence that it can suddenly step up its game to match Starfield, even though Starfield isn't out yet. It also doesn't help that Starfield will probably beat Beyond Good and Evil 2 to the punch.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is Running Behind
One of the most important parts of the new Starfield trailer is the release date reveal. Although Bethesda has talked about the game very little since teasing it, it already knows when it expects to be done with Starfield. There's about a year and a half to go before the game releases, but it's great that Bethesda fans can already mark their calendars and look forward to the release. There's plenty of time left for Bethesda to expand the game and get it polished for release, so ideally it won't need a delay between now and November 2022.
The Starfield release date is emblematic of Bethesda's sudden good communication about the game. Todd Howard may not have shared a ton of specifics when discussing Starfield, but between his willingness to chat about it and the release date announcement, fans should be optimistic that Starfield reveals will get scattered throughout next year, slowly revealing specifics. Bethesda is confident in Starfield and ready to talk openly about it, but the same can't be said for Ubisoft and Beyond Good and Evil 2.
The clearest thing that Ubisoft has said about Beyond Good and Evil 2 recently is that the game is still in development. Fans might appreciate the reassurance, but without any further details about how development is going, it's hard to believe anything about Beyond Good and Evil 2. In spite of all of its years of development, Ubisoft isn't ready to discuss a release window, even one as far away as 2023 or 2024. At this point, it's hard to say if Beyond Good and Evil 2's gameplay is still anything like how it was originally described. Ubisoft's opaqueness regarding Beyond Good and Evil 2 doesn't inspire much hope that it'll ever get finished.
Everything's Coming Up Starfield
At this point, Starfield seems like it summarily beats out Beyond Good and Evil 2 in many fundamental ways. Bethesda seems ready to start revealing the world of Starfield and its exciting space travel opportunities, while Ubisoft continues to keep Beyond Good and Evil 2 behind closed doors. Between these two spacefaring adventures, Starfield is more poised to succeed than its rival. Odds are fans of this genre will be flocking to Starfield while Ubisoft is still trying to get Beyond Good and Evil 2 out of development. The latter game will struggle even more with a major competitor on the market.
If Ubisoft says it's still working on Beyond Good and Evil 2, then maybe there's hope. At the same time, it wouldn't be surprising it Ubisoft gives up the ghost if Starfield is a big hit. Ubisoft has plenty of other games that might be worth prioritizing instead of one meant to compete with Bethesda's next big IP. Starfield's trailer and Bethesda's confidence surrounding the game suggest there's great things on the way. It'd be a shame if Beyond Good and Evil 2 finally got shut down, but if Starfield prospers at least sci-fi fans got a good trade out of it.
Starfield releases on November 11, 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.