Xbox And Bethesda Confirm Nintendo-Style Direct, But Don’t Expect Starfield Yet

After rumours circulated earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed a Nintendo-style Developer_Direct will take place featuring Bethesda and Xbox. The presentation, planned for January 26 at 7 AM AEDT, will focus on upcoming Xbox games like Forza Motorsport, Minecraft Legends, and Redfall, as well as new content for The Elder Scrolls Online. One game will be a no-show, though, and that’s the space RPG Starfield because Microsoft has a “standalone show” planned for a later date.

In the Xbox Wire blog post, Microsoft said the livestream will be presented “by the game creators themselves” and includes Arkane Austin, Mojang Studios, Turn 10 Studios, and ZeniMax Online Studios. The post briefly went over what each developer will cover as well. ZeniMax Online’s studio director Matt Firor, for example, will “unveil 2023’s major Chapter update” for The Elder Scrolls Online. Meanwhile, Arkane Austin will show “several minutes of [Redfall] gameplay,” including the single- and multiplayer components. Basically, we’re getting a glimpse of what’s to come from Xbox in the first chunk of 2023.

Read More: Todd Howard Dishes On What To Expect From Starfield

Something absent from the list is Starfield, the it’s-got-so-many-worlds space-faring RPG from Bethesda Game Studios. Microsoft noted in the post that a “standalone show is in the works” for Starfield, one that will “dedicate the proper amount of time for a deep dive” into the massive game that required a massive workload for devs.

Kotaku reached out to Bethesda and Microsoft for clarification on Starfield’s absence but did not receive a response before publication.

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from the Starfield developers. Todd Howard, in a November 2022 interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, said the game features some sort of “dialed back” survival elements. He didn’t go into specific detail, however, it appears there may be resources to keep track of in Starfield, but managing them won’t be as stressful. We also learned that the game has dialogue and traits systems and will cost $US70 ($AU101) whenever it hits Xbox (and PC) as a platform exclusive this year.