Starfield Hits Off with the Shattered Space DLC, But Only a PS5 Launch Can Fulfill Todd Howard’s Vision For The Game

Starfield has been released for a full year on the Xbox Series X/S, and the PC platform, and the gaming community finally experienced this ambitious dream of director Todd Howard and the rest of Bethesda Game Studios. However, only a portion of the general gaming community could get their hands on this game since it is currently tethered to the Xbox platforms and the numbers are not doing all that great. Perhaps if the game was made as a multiplatform title, the efforts of the developers could be shared with others.

After a full year, Bethesda Game Studios celebrates the game’s success and is finally sharing news and information about the expansion. While some players on the available platforms are excited, the DLC could benefit from more support outside the Microsoft ecosystem as it was originally intended.

Starfield Could Have a Much Stellar Launch if It Were Available on the PlayStation 5

The game developers of Bethesda Game Studios have worked on this dream project for years and encountered their fair share of problems throughout development. While it did have a rocky launch, Starfield is finally celebrating its first anniversary, and the developers are excited to share details of the upcoming Shattered Space expansion coming on September 30, 2024. The team claims that players can explore new locations and more story content that will keep the player base busy for a while.

Console exclusivity used to be a great asset and this is how Sony Interactive Entertainment managed to remain relevant amidst the fierce competition over the past few years. Rather than focusing on hardware, the PlayStation brand ballooned exponentially through back-to-back great first-party exclusive games like God of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, and many more. This is one area where Microsoft lacks poorly for the Xbox brand and fans anticipated that the aggressive acquisition spree was meant to counter this argument. Among the studios that Microsoft acquired was Bethesda Game Studios and Xbox executives convinced Howard to delay Starfield until the acquisition of Zenimax blows over.

The Xbox community wanted something they knew was exclusive to them; however, this would drastically harm the game. Other upcoming games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be heading to the PlayStation 5, and this project is published by Bethesda and to the credit of MachineGames, the game was meant to be a multiplatform title right before the acquisition. Perhaps Microsoft executives came to their senses and realized that their player base was more interested in playing through Game Pass rather than buying a game outright and needed the consumers of other platforms to make up for the loss.

Some players are confident and convinced that Starfield will be the next major first-party Xbox title that will be ported to rival hardware. It would have been wise for Microsoft to share this game right before the Shattered Space expansion goes live to get the people on the PlayStation ecosystem on board. It is unfortunate to see a major project from Bethesda Game Studios get rolled over, unlike the early days when everyone was interested immediately like Fallout or The Elder Scrolls series. PlayStation 5 owners feel like they are no longer losing out on the game’s exclusivity to Xbox and PC after Microsoft acquired Bethesda, but it seems like Microsoft could use the numbers and a boost.

The Upcoming Shattered Space Expansion Could Use All the Help It Can Get

It is easy to forget that Starfield was originally intended to be a multiplatform title before the Microsoft acquisition. If Bethesda hadn’t been acquired, Microsoft executives wouldn’t have had this problem nor would Bethesda. The game’s ambitious nature of the space age could have easily appealed to the wider player base and it is no secret that the PlayStation 5 is much more dominant in this console generation. Porting the game to other platforms could have been a win-win situation for all parties involved.

The idea of console exclusivity is now viewed as a negative trait of gaming companies. Sony has shown some capacity for change to share its major first-party titles to PC but the company is still protective of its IP and shows no intention of sharing with direct competitors. Microsoft is going on a different approach and means to pave the way for the future of gaming through cloud streaming and other services like XCloud and Game Pass.

It is no secret that the game could have been a much bigger success if it had been accessible on other platforms. Perhaps the executives will reconsider their options and decide to do what is best for Starfield by sharing the game on the PlayStation 5 and letting it grow from there. The gaming community is down to play any game as long as it is available on the platform of their choice.

It would be a shame to see years of hard work and sacrifices from Bethesda Game Studios be thrown down the drain because the game is not available on other platforms and is limited to the Xbox and PC community. Video games are meant to be shared and celebrated and encourage players to live harmoniously in a toxic-free environment. It is not too late to port the game on the PlayStation 5.

Would you play Starfield Shattered Space on the PlayStation 5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!