After numerous delays and several grandiose presentations, Starfield looks to have a firm release date of September 6, 2023, and yet, one of the most highly-anticipated aspects of the game is the potential bugs. Bethesda is beloved for its single-player RPGs, so much so that the greater gaming community finds fun in the many bugs and glitches found over the years.

Of course, there are also game-breaking and save-ruining issues that have popped up to quell the chuckles, but for the most part, sudden bugs are taken in good spirits. Given the hype and scope of Starfield, it has the potential to be Bethesda’s biggest and funniest game yet – and gamers are all for it!

Bethesda Bugs Are Notoriously Excellent

It’s tough to remember a Bethesda launch that didn’t see thousands or even millions of gamers experience at least one quirky or hilarious bug.

Easily one of the most famous and most beloved, as CyberGhost lists, is the Giant Launch. On The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a good swing from a giant could fire you up into the stratosphere as a limp, spinning corpse who was probably only looking to get a toe or loot a fairly low-tier chest.

Away from their fantasy line, Bethesda has also produced some very buggy sci-fi games. The post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 4 was riddled with hilarious bugs and glitches. Sometimes, a person’s face would disappear, leaving a horrifying eyes and inner mouth combination. Other times, you could spot the notorious T-pose, or miss every VATS shot despite insane hit probabilities.

When Bethesda opted to pivot from single-player to multiplayer for Fallout – to the chagrin of just about every fan – the fun bugs and glitches turned sour. Fallout 76 goes down as one of the worst game launches of all time: riddled with game-breaking problems. It was so broken that Eurogamer reported players being able to access the hidden developer room to pinch the items that hadn’t been released yet.

Will Starfield have good or bad bugs?

Notice that the question isn’t “if” but rather “what kind”, as the inherent freedom and scope of Bethesda games makes it nearly impossible to iron out all potential bugs. Plus, they get a pretty big pass from gamers, as the rest of the experience tends to be superb. A big change did occur mid-development, however, that may alter this outlook.

In 2020, Microsoft announced that it’d be acquiring Bethesda’s owning company, ZeniMax Media. Since then, the game has been pushed back and delayed to what looks to be its final firm release date. This may be because Microsoft needs a strong launch and is willing to pump more money and time into its development to ensure this.

Still, the ambitious Starfield is set to have over 100 solar systems and thousands of planets to explore, being far larger than even the biggest Bethesda creation to date. As such, even with what will be eight years of active development, it seems near-impossible for even an enhanced team to make it completely bug and glitch-free.

Last year, in fact, the first Starfield bug was spotted during Bethesda’s gameplay presentation. In the background of the video – which was assumedly reviewed closely before the presentation – an NPC looks back, and then their head gets stuck facing that way while their body walks forward. It was charmingly Bethesda in every way.

When Starfield launches, the key will be if the game suffers from annoying and game-breaking bugs and glitches. If anything, fans will want to see the odd funny bug or glitch and will be more than happy to post them online to raise the profile of the title.