A “stolen” formula. Lies to the government. These are not concepts that come to mind when envisioning the field of video game development. Yet, game development is unexpectedly controversial, and Bethesda’s “Starfield” is a perfect example. “Starfield” is a sci-fi action role-playing video game by Bethesda, a Microsoft-owned developer. The game promises a thousand planets to explore, space exploration, and space combat fully. However, the most important part of “Starfield” is its development, as it offers glimpses behind the scenes of game development.
“Starfield’s” development is full of controversy. Fans even question its originality, comparing it to 2016’s “No Man’s Sky.” That game, compared to “Starfield’s” thousand planets to explore, has 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets. A random planet generation system accomplishes this, and fans have pointed out that “Starfield” has a similar system. However, “No Man’s Sky” developer Hello Games has been silent. Why? In a Eurogamer (A gaming news website.) interview, Johan Gielis thought “No Man’s Sky” used his Superformula. The University of Antwerp professor’s formula is capable of randomly creating natural shapes, just like “No Man’s Sky’s” random generation. Hello Games has not sued Bethesda because the formula may not be theirs. However, both sides came to a peaceful resolution, unlike another “Starfield” controversy.
“Starfield” is full of other development secrets, some of which resurfaced in a trial regarding a different game developer, Activision-Blizzard. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a government agency that prevents monopolies, tried to stop Microsoft from buying Activision-Blizzard, fearing an Xbox monopoly. According to documents posted on its website, the FTC mentioned “Starfield” during the trial, and they also revealed that Microsoft was not forthcoming towards the European Commission, with the goal of avoiding making “Starfield” available to PlayStation. This shows that “Starfield” is extremely valuable so much so that Microsoft is willing to withhold information from government organizations to acquire the rights to the game. Essentially, video game development may seem to be a fairly uncomplicated enterprise on the outside, but on the inside, it is a complex race against time to see who makes the most profitable game. Currently, that game is “Starfield.” Only time will tell if it will deliver or fail.