Phil Spencer Says Starfield “Is More Oblivion Than Skyrim”

As the massively anticipated release of Starfield finally nears, Xbox head Phil Spencer has swooped in to offer some perspective on what players can expect from the game. Comparing it to Bethesda Game Studios’ other works, he notes that the game is closer to The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion than its follow-up entry, The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim.

“So I think I’m on my 15th playthrough,” Spencer started. “I start, we change save game formats, blah blah blah, all that stuff. So I started in November, but I’m playing — I think — my final character playthrough. Total space pirate. I’m a total space pirate. I think it’s more Oblivion than Skyrim — for people who’ve played, maybe they’ll get that. It is an epic, epic game.”

Phil stopped short of explaining what brings the game closer to Oblivion than Skyrim, so if you’re someone who doesn’t play Bethesda Game Studios titles (like this writer), this statement might confuse you. Still, if you’ve played both games, this feels like an “if you know you know” situation that should offer even more excitement for the game.

Speculation has arisen as to what Phil was trying to say, and the top comment on a Reddit thread appears to offer some perspective. User Titan7771 notes that “Skyrim improved on Oblivion in terms of gameplay (combat was much better, for example) but the writing and quests were much better in Oblivion, and the RPG systems were more complex.” It’s anyone’s guess if this is what Phil means, but it appears to be a good interpretation of his message.

Regardless, Phil is clearly just as excited about this game as the fans are. And why wouldn’t he be? It’s got to be worth something if you’ve already played the game 15 times and sunk 200 hours into it. Fans will most definitely get to sink all that time (and more) into Starfield when it finally arrives on Sept. 6.