STARFIELD
During Bethesda’s E3 2018 show we got a small glimpse at the company’s first new IP in approximately 20 years, Starfield. All we saw of the sci-fi title was a short announcement trailer that showed a sun emerging from the side of a planet and a star-shaped space craft warping off screen followed by the game logo seen above.
Since E3, there have been some hints that Starfield might be more focused on releasing in the next generation of consoles after PS4 and Xbox One. In a GameSpot interview with Bethesda Creative Director Todd Howard, he stated “I can’t absolutely say yes to [leaving current generation console behind]. We’re not going to limit the game that way yet. I’m willing to [leave current generation consoles behind] but it’s not a priority right now. I’d put it that way.”
When the announcement trailer dropped, Bethesda also tweeted the video calling Starfield, “our next-generation single-player epic.” While this is also clearly a reference to the fact the themes of Starfield are much more futuristic than fellow Bethesda series like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, the choice of words in calling it next-generation is hard to ignore with so much speculation on when Starfield is said to officially release.
Welcome to #Starfield, our next-generation single-player epic, and first new franchise in 25 years. pic.twitter.com/0DM1N8Tf6l
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2018
In The Making of Fallout 76 Noclip documentary, Howard specifies that Bethesda is first working on Fallout 76 before moving onto Starfield and with Fallout 76 not releasing until November 2018, this would push back Starfield to likely at the very earliest 2019 with it possibly releasing even a year or two after that. Howard also stated in the documentary that the team is “…uniquely positioned to pull this game off.” Perhaps a reference to the time in-between console upgrades when Starfield will likely launch where technology will advance enough to be able to support a game of this size and caliber.
THE ELDER SCROLLS VI
Much like Starfield, Bethesda only gave us the tiniest peak at The Elder Scrolls VI with an announcement trailer showing off an unspecified landscape with a quick glance at the games title as seen above.
It’s expected to release after Starfield, which as already stated is likely not arriving until 2019 at the very soonest, meaning the timeline of Elder Scrolls VI release is pushed back into 2020-2021 territory, making it very likely to be a next-gen title contender, even more so than Starfield.
The most recent entry in the Elder Scrolls series Skyrim released originally for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in November 2011 before coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC yet again as a Special Edition five years later in 2016. Not to mention ports that released it onto Nintendo Switch and PSVR just last year in 2017.
By the way it’s looking so far, The Elder Scrolls VI will either release in two ways. Split between next-gen and current gen with the latter coming first followed by an improved edition once the newer consoles are released, or it becomes a strictly next-gen title due to technology demands and a desire to entice consumers to purchase a new console.
HALO INFINITE
Halo Infinite was shown off for the first time at E3 2018, but it wasn’t until after the trailer was shown that developer 343 Industries stated the footage was really an engine demo rather than a full-fledged game announcement. 343 Industries created an entirely new engine for Halo Infinite entitled the Slipspace Engine, and all the footage in the E3 trailer is running in-engine.
In the blog post explaining the trailer, 343 Industries says “We still have a long way to go until we ship the game, so things will certainly evolve between now and the release of Halo Infinite… the engine demo is a clear indication of the direction we are heading with our next game and a great snapshot of where our tech is right now.”
Halo Infinite seems like an ambitious new entry in the Halo series, and the way the game’s creators are taking about its development is indicative that its release is still a ways off. Therefore, Halo Infinite will likely be a either a cross-gen title or a next-gen launch exclusive to incentivize players to take the leap to the new Xbox console.
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE
It’s been three full years since the Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced during E3 2015 with a short two minute trailer. Almost no new information save for a gameplay trailer and some concept art have been released since, causing some to wonder if its delayed production will push it back into PS5 territory.
A few months ago in March 2018, a job listing was posted by Square Enix, as translated by Gematsu, saying, “While we are reaching a satisfactory level in terms of reproducing the original title in high-quality graphics, we have come to the conclusion that we should aim for even higher quality in order to meet the expectations of fans.” So essentially, the game is going to take more time as developers work to make the Final Fantasy VII Remake reach the high-standards of anxiously awaiting fans.
Back in May 2017, the development of the remake also shifted to work only being done by the internal teams at Square Enix instead of in partnership with Japanese developer CyberConnect2 as previously stated. It’s reported all the work done by CyberConnect2 was scrapped with the Square Enix team starting from scratch after parting ways.
With so many shifts in development, and hints that even this year the game isn’t reaching the quality level Square Enix is happy with, it seems likely Final Fantasy VII Remake is a ways off and likely will not be a title we see on the PS4.
CYBERPUNK 2077
From the developers behind The Witcher series CD Projeck RED, Cyberpunk 2077 was shown for the first time at E3 2018 with a trailer and 50-minute exclusive gameplay demo for press. So far the game looks extremely ambitious tech wise due to both the game’s visuals and the amount of NPCs and environmental items that are placed on screen with the player at any given time.
Back in March 2018 during an interview with CD Projekt RED president Adam Kiciński and VG247, Kiciński stated Cyberpunk was being built with next-gen consoles in mind saying, “Technology-wise, Cyberpunk is very advanced. Our technology is ready to interface with future generations… The game is developed in such a way that it can use very powerful future equipment.”
The demo at E3 was running on PC, but CD Projekt RED level designer Max Pears stated in an interview with Metro UK that the quality seen in the demo would be the same when it came to PS4. When questioned about how all other PS4 games on the E3 show floor didn’t look as impressive, Pears says, “This is the thing now, we’ve got a great team. So we’re gonna be trying our hardest to push the envelope. We’ve got the right people and the right minds to get this there for it.”
While there is no doubt the game is coming to this generation of consoles, from the way CD Projekt RED’s developers talk about the technology involved to make a game of this size and complexity, it doesn’t seem unlikely it will also release for future consoles with more technological capabilities.
There is no official date or even window for Cyberpunk yet, but 2019-2020 seems likely, which is around when we might start expecting the reveal of the next generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Much like the release of Grand Theft Auto V first on Xbox 360 and PS3 in September 2013 and then for Xbox One and PS4 in April 2015, we could see Cyberpunk 2077 split between this gen and next with a superior option for next-gen purchasers.
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