Former Starfield Designer Says It’s a “Good Game” Let Down by Space Being “Inherently Boring”

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With the initial excitement around the release of the sci-fi RPG Starfield dying down, more in-depth conversations about the game are emerging. Bruce Nesmith, a former systems designer on the project, recently discussed Starfield’s development on the FRVR podcast. He described the game as fundamentally “good,” but explained that its use of automatically generated content held it back from being truly great.

Nesmith said he enjoyed the game, though he didn’t quite place it on the same level as titles like Fallout, Skyrim, or the Elder Scrolls series. He expressed pride in his own contributions to the game and the work of his colleagues, believing they ultimately created something great.

Nesmith also pointed out that the high expectations for Starfield were partly due to its developer, Bethesda. He believes the game would have been viewed differently if another company had made it. According to Nesmith, a key problem with Starfield is its vast, empty universe. He argues that “space is inherently boring” because it’s mostly nothingness, and simply traveling through it isn’t very engaging.

He explained that the game lost its appeal when the planets started feeling too similar and lacked excitement. He was also let down by the limited range of challenging enemies, noting that while there were interesting alien creatures, they mostly functioned as background elements, like the wolves in Skyrim. He felt the game lacked diverse, story-driving opponents.

Even though Starfield came out two years ago, Bethesda is still adding to the game. They recently shared a short video online hinting at something called the “Terran Armada,” but haven’t said whether this will be a small update or a large expansion.

In August, Tim Lamb, a lead creative producer at Bethesda, revealed that they were developing a new story expansion for Starfield. While specifics were limited, he indicated the DLC would include new gameplay features and some smaller additions. He also hinted at exciting content coming from the game’s community creators.

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2025-10-21 18:11