To call Bethesda’s 2023 sci-fi RPG Starfield controversial is an understatement.
There’s no denying its epic scope and scale, but it’s failed to resonate with audiences the same way games like Fallout or The Elder Scrolls have.
One reason could be Bethesda’s in-house Creation Engine, which produces quirky bugs and technical issues. Former artist Nate Purkeypile, who has since founded Just Purkey Games, recently spoke to Kiwi Talkz as as part of a promotional tour for the recently released The Axis Unseen.
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As the lone developer at Just Purkey Games, Purkeypile chose to develop his game with Unreal Engine 5, which was very different from working with Creation Engine. He explains that developing open-world games can be a difficult experience, especially in the past.
Now that open-world games aren’t a “weird fringe thing,” something like Unreal Engine 5 saves him so much time and effort. He told Kiwi Talkz that “there’s no way I could have shipped this game in 3 years” working with something like Creation Engine; he saved hundreds of hours by using Unreal 5.
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Kiwi Talkz even mentioned that Bethesda hasn’t moved to Unreal 5. Purkeypile referenced how CD Projekt RED has shifted to the popular game engine but also admits that moving from one engine to another requires a lot of work. Purkeypile acknowledges that working in Creation Engine feels like “you’re on a train while also laying the train tracks…it’s also on fire the entire time.”
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It’ll be expensive and time-consuming to shift from Creation to Unreal, but one that Purkeypile thinks is worth it. He admits that he’d be “shocked” that Bethesda would leap. “It’s important to re-evaluate tech, and games are constantly changing,” he says. “To always commit yourself to these decisions you made in the past is dangerous.”
While other Xbox studios are moving to Unreal Engine 5, most notably 343 Industries with the Halo franchise, Bethesda seems content to stay with what it knows best for now.
Create your own story in Bethesda’s epic open-world (or open-galaxy) RPG. With factions to join, wars to fight, and over 1000 planets to explore, Starfield is the legendary RPG developer’s most ambitious game yet.
