WhileThe Elder ScrollsandFallouthave both been the big names ofBethesdafor many years now,Starfieldis an interloper; an outlier in the portfolio of the studio, with a much weaker start to its lifetime, while the demands forThe Elder Scrolls 6only grow louder. Bethesda Game Studios was prepared for it to be a decade-long game, following in theSkyrim’sfootsteps, but it wasn’t nearly as popular as executives seemingly expected it to be.
Let me preface this argument by saying thatI’m one of the only Starfield fans in the universe. It, alongside Oblivion, is my favourite game from Bethesda. I’m not going to reach for the stars to convince you to like the game - I understand it fell short of most people’s expectations - but I do want to see Starfield achieve that decade-long life, establishing itself as the third iconic series we can expect to launch from Bethesda Game Studios. But to achieve that, it’s got lightyears to go.
Long story short: If Bethesda wants to bring people back to Starfield, it needs to make it multiplayer.
“Not Every Game Needs Multiplayer!”
I already feel the need to defend myself by clarifying that I’m a defender of single-player games. I’m not big into MMOs or online sandboxes or any competitive scenes. I’ll dip into fun multiplayer experiences here and there, but I believe in keeping certain games and series offline, for you to experience them the way they were intended to be experienced. That’s how we end up with some of the all-time, offline greats like Red Dead Redemption 2, Breath of the Wild, Outer Wilds, and even Bethesda’s own Skyrim and Fallout.
Two of those series - Red Dead and Fallout - have had multiplayer attempts, both rocky for one reason or another; more on Fallout 76 in just a moment.
This isn’t to say multiplayer games are lesser; they’re just fundamentally different approaches to a game and the experience it gives the audience. I think Starfield is a great single-player RPG, and one that I’m more than happy with. However, I want to see it continue, and while multiplayer isn’t the do-all-end-all solution for that, I believe it could be the most effective - and drastic - way to rekindle the series with ongoing, dynamic attention, rather than continued content updates or a sequel that people won’t be anticipating.
But if you’re going to do it, you need to do it right; Bethesda has experience in both successes and failures, so it needs to use what it knows works and avoid what doesn’t.
Bethesda, Please Keep The Small Steps Small, And The Giant Leaps Ambitious
Let’s take a quick look at Bethesda’s recent history with multiplayer.
Fallout 76 is a spin-off title in the Fallout series, developed in-house by Bethesda Game Studios, and was an attempt at providing a mixture of the classic Fallout single-player RPG with a seamless online world shared between players. A Fallout RPG sprinkled with a little MMO.
The Elder Scrolls Online is a spin-off title in The Elder Scrolls series, published by Bethesda Softworks and developed by Zenimax Online Studios. A full-blown MMO sprinkled with a little The Elder Scrolls.
Both games are still going strong today, but each had a few years of rough reception before reaching a stronger standing, with consistent support and ongoing content. Both games are also similar in a few ways they approach multiplayer, but differ significantly in most other aspects. From each of these titles, Bethesda has prime examples of what works and what doesn’t, and what approaches are going to best achieve a cohesive experience for multiplayer audiences.
And when we set the rocky launches aside, both Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online are active to this day, keeping the attention of fans well enough to see the titles stay afloat. Although Starfield was never intended to be online from the get-go, it might just need that same treatment in order to stay afloat before it sinks too deep.
However, games don’t have to take a leap of faith into multiplayer territory quite so drastically as either of these examples. Titles like Death Stranding 2 (and its predecessor) integrate online mechanics into an otherwise single-player experience through more subtle, woven means, allowing co-operative contribution and a semblance of a shared world, despite never encountering another player directly. Sure, you wouldn’t look at Death Stranding and think it’s a multiplayer game, because it’s not; but it is an online game that provides us with a new approach, keeping a dynamic element to the world through player activity, without bumping into any other players when you play - something that could even be a simple, beneficial option within Starfield’s own universe in order to keep it feeling alive and evolving.
You can still play Death Stranding 2 offline, should you wish, and you might even prefer this method.
Either Smart Integration, Or A Full-Blown Attempt; No Inbetween
The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have both come from different backgrounds and have each experienced ups and downs. However, these are the two beloved series we know and love from Bethesda Game Studios. Starfield is the newest arrival from the developer, and despite having alittleless than stellar reception, that doesn’t mean it can’t plant its feet and tread new ground as it continues to establish itself as the third.
There’s a vast number of mods for the game, including so many brilliant additions from verified creators on the in-game Creations store. There’s also the Shattered Space DLC, which adds an extensive story and fresh location to the game, which feels more like classic Bethesda than most other questlines in the base game. However, while this is a slow and steady pace to keep the game alive while we await the supposed Starborn DLC, I think Starfield could benefit from something new; not new to Bethesda, but a new way to experience this expansive universe.
The thing is: if Starfield were to use multiplayer, it can’t afford to have a rough start like Fallout or The Elder Scrolls. The game’s faded launch means a stumble now would only collapse the series before it could get started, so it is a risk. But as a fan of Starfield, it’s a risk that needs to be taken.
Bethesda needs to use what it knows to either integrate online connectivity and interactivity into Starfield, giving it a subtle new lease of life to make it something worth returning to. Or, alternatively - and a little more bold - it needs to approach a separate MMO with the help of Zenimax in order to bring a stronger audience to the IP. Get this right, and Starfield will be in a better place than ever, for both ongoing content within a new MMO, and a hopeful, giant leap for Starfield 2.
