Phil Spencer Says Delaying Starfield Into 2023 Was The "Right Thing To Do"

November has been a busy month for game releases, and if Bethesda had pushed ahead with its Starfield plans, the month would have been even busier with the release of Starfield. The game, alongside Arkane's Redfall, were eventually delayed into 2023, and according to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, that was the right decision to make.

"We have experience shipping games too early, but in hindsight when you look at a game like Starfield, which has taken so long and so much investment in new IP from the team, the decision to give the team the time to build the game that they feel they should be building is just the right thing to do," Spencer said to The Verge.

According to Spencer, Microsoft wanted to make certain that Bethesda and Arkane could deliver the best games possible, as Starfield and Redfall will be the first true Xbox console-exclusive releases following the $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax. "I just wanted to make sure those teams felt that they had the support they could get from Xbox. Maybe feel some of the benefit of being part of a larger organization that has other revenue streams and other things going on that could be helpful."

Spencer had a few other interesting stories to share during his appearance on The Verge's podcast, as he once again commented on Call of Duty's future on PlayStation and spoke about how the Activision Blizzard acquisition is focused on mobile games like Candy Crush. In a previous interview, Spencer mentioned how Starfield won't feel like a big-budget Skyrim in space, although fans can expect classic Bethesda gameplay elements such as dialogue options.

Starfield and vampire-hunting game Redfall are currently scheduled to launch in the first half of 2023, and while they will be console-exclusive to Xbox Series X|S, you will also be able to play them on PC.