Starfield’s Media Successes and Shortcomings

Real Time Strategy

Five years after its announcement, Starfield is finally here. TriplePoint’s Sam Mosher, Nick Shepherd, and Blane Humphries break down its campaign from announcement to launch and discuss what other games can learn from Starfield’s deep-dive showcase, messaging, and review strategy.

Timecodes:

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:50 – Baldur’s Gate 3 and other favorite 2023 games

00:07:52 – Starfield’s launch campaign

00:19:32 – Messaging the “Bethesda Jank”

00:28:36 – Why Bethesda touted Starfield’s length

00:34:45 – Explaining Starfield’s 1000 planets

00:47:38 – Starfield’s UK review code drama

00:59:19 – Starfield’s effect on the media landscape

Stories we discussed:

Kotaku - It Could Take 130 Hours To Really Start Starfield, Bethesda Exec Says

GamesIndustry.biz - Pete Hines on Starfield, Bethesda and bugs: "We embrace chaos"

New York Times - Starfield’s 1,000 Planets May Be One Giant Leap for Game Design

Eurogamer - Eurogamer and Starfield: Why our review will be late

GamesIndustry.biz - Starfield review controversy traces game journalism's orbital decay

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