Bethesda’s highly anticipated space RPG Starfield faced development challenges that impacted the game’s final quest. Insights from a recent Game Developers Conference talk revealed details about the rushed creation of the game’s ending. There are spoilers for the ending below, but if you’ve played through the game, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Former lead quest designer Will Shen told PC Gamer he didn’t have enough time to create a good conclusion for the game. The quest design team was very busy, and the project was very big, which made it hard for them to work together. The development of Starfield included over 500 people from different studios, which is much more than the team sizes for Skyrim and Fallout 4.
The large size caused some organization problems. Different groups worked separately, communication stopped, and even easy tasks became hard to do. Every request had to go through many people to consider each team’s work and possible schedule issues. As a result, the main goal didn’t have a big ending.
“Every request now has to go through all the producers because we needed to check all of the contingent work. Asking for something as simple as a chair wasn’t so simple. Do you need animations for it? Do you need sound effects for it? How much does that add to the schedule, can it not fit because one of those teams does not have the time?”
Will Shen
I agree that the ending of Starfield was, for lack of a better word, meh. However, aside from some great moments, most of the main quest line was dull. It’s weird because the side content, like faction quests, was great. If anything, the main quest should have been scraped and redone because there are many who would say they dreaded having to go through it.
The team was too big to make huge decisions and get massive movement for the ending. In a last-minute effort to create a more exciting ending, game developer Shen sought the help of senior designer Steve Cornett. Cornett’s idea of dimension-hopping allowed players to revisit important places, which saved valuable development time. While this quick fix was successful, it also showcased the challenges of handling such a big project.
Shen stressed the need for clear communication and common objectives. Teams need to work together effectively without waiting for crises to occur. Despite the rushed development of the final part, many players probably found it to be a satisfying ending. I think that’s because of the part where you see the results of your actions. The final battle itself did feel rushed.
I think Skyrim had the worst ending in Bethesda’s library, and that Oblivion was my favorite, with the rest in between. Starfield would be above Skyrim by a lot, but that doesn’t mean much. It just felt like the ending could have been better, especially with the high intensity moments in the middle of the questline. However, there’s still a DLC that could make things better.
Bethesda likely knows that many people were disappointed in Starfield; it felt like a game was made a decade ago. That’s why it’s good to see what they had to deal with while making it. It makes sense that it’s hard to readjust a team and get people to help you with one aspect when everyone is busy. Hopefully, the next DLC will make up for it.
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