For causes I will not get into right here as a result of it could represent a bit little bit of a spoiler, the planet Earth in Starfield is a little bit of a wasteland. However what if it was The Wasteland—that’s, the post-nuclear hellscape of Bethesda’s different huge sci-fi-ish sport collection, Fallout? In an interview with The Washington Submit, inventive director Todd Howard mentioned builders truly gave thought to the concept.
And there shall be some mini-spoilers after this level, so think about your self warned.
In some ways, Fallout would appear like a pure match for Starfield: The stays of Earthly landmarks just like the Shard in London and the Empire State Constructing in New York Metropolis are there to be found, so why not components of the Capitol Wasteland? It seems that the concept was truly given some although.
“We talked about it,” Howard mentioned within the interview. However, like “lots of” of different concepts, connecting Fallout and Starfield in a kind of sprawling, interstellar ‘Bethesdaverse’ finally did not come collectively.
It is simple sufficient to know why. Narratively, it is a powerful match: Starfield takes place in 2330, simply 40 years after the occasions of Fallout 4, when humanity was nonetheless dicking round within the radioactive ruins of the Nice Struggle. Starfield may’ve been moved again a number of centuries to offer everybody adequate time to recuperate, however the darkish irony of the Fallout setting would nonetheless butt fairly arduous towards the straighter “NASA-punk” strategy of Starfield.
There have been additionally extra sensible causes for leaving the Fallout connection on the cutting-room flooring. Starfield was delayed a number of occasions, and growth was slowed tremendously by the Covid-19 pandemic, which compelled everybody to immediately adapt to working from house for an prolonged time. Given these constraints, working in any kind of significant connection between the 2 sport collection most likely appeared like a straightforward thought to drop.