Starfield 2? Ex-Bethesda Dev Says Don't Hold Your Breath

Ever find yourself wondering if we'll ever get a Starfield 2? Well, according to one former Bethesda developer, you probably shouldn't count on it.

Kurt Kuhlmann, a Bethesda veteran who worked as a systems designer on Starfield before leaving the studio after its release, shared his honest thoughts in an interview with FRVR (via VGC). His verdict? A sequel is unlikely. "I would be very surprised," Kuhlmann said. "I don't think Starfield was anywhere near successful enough to do a Starfield 2."

That's a pretty blunt assessment. While Bethesda hasn't officially released sales figures, Starfield is estimated to have generated $300 million in revenue as of April this year. Based on its reported $200 million budget, that would make the game profitable — but it's still a far cry from the Skyrim-level success Bethesda is used to. And with Xbox reportedly wanting to focus on its major franchises, it makes sense that The Elder Scrolls and Fallout would take priority over a Starfield follow-up.

Still, Kuhlmann sees it as a bit of a shame. "It's in a way, too bad, because I think with the lessons learned on Starfield, a Starfield 2 could have been much closer to the game that Todd had [in mind]," he explained. In other words, the team could have nailed it the second time around.

One specific issue Kuhlmann would have loved to fix? Starfield's outpost building mechanic. He believes it was added somewhat arbitrarily and never properly baked into the core experience. "You can build a base anywhere you want on a planet. For what it is, as a standalone system, it's cool, but it's not nearly as integrated with the rest of the game," he said. He also pointed out that Bethesda ran into a similar problem with Fallout 4 and failed to learn from it. "It caused problems for it to be integrated with the story and the missions and stuff in Fallout 4, so it was kind of put to the side. Which begs the question of, well, why is it still in the game?" Apparently, the decision to keep it was above his pay grade.

That said, Bethesda hasn't abandoned Starfield entirely. The studio has continued supporting the game with free updates and DLC, and in July it stated that Starfield remains "an important part of our future." So while a full sequel might be a long shot, the original isn't going anywhere just yet.

What do you think — should Bethesda give Starfield another shot, or is it time to move on? Let us know in the comments!