Starfield Has Finally Gone Gold

Starfield development is finally complete. Bethesda announced today that the game has gone gold, meaning all development work is complete, and the game is ready to be sold. Starfield will release on September 6th. Some editions of Starfield will include early access, which begins on September 1st. 

Back in the day, a game going gold meant the final game was burnt to a special gold-colored master CD. This disc would be used to duplicate onto other CDs which would be put into its box, distributed, and put in stores. The terminology has stuck around although the process is rare now, but it essentially means that the game is complete. 

Prepare for launch.#Starfield has gone gold! Preloads begin tomorrow for @Xbox X|S and Windows PC and August 30 for Steam. pic.twitter.com/LC8xJnI8WN

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) August 16, 2023

We also know when the game will be available for preload. Preload for Xbox Series X and S begins tomorrow, August 17th. Starfield will be available for preload on PC/Steam on August 30th, meaning you will be able to download the full game onto your console or PC so that you will be able to play it the day of release with no issue. 

Starfield has been a long time coming. It was first announced during E3 2018, along with confirmation that The Elder Scrolls 6 was in development as well. There was radio silence on the game for years until leaks and rumors started arising in 2021 and 2022. Some have waited years for this game to come out. It now seems unreal that the game will release in merely weeks, and the long wait is over. 

Starfield is Bethesda’s next big RPG, after Fallout 4 and Skyrim (let’s forget that Fallout 76 exists for now). Development work began sometime in 2016, just after Fallout 4 was released. Todd Howard and Bethesda wanted to make Starfield for decades, but they decided that now was the time to make it, because what they wanted to do with the game simply wasn’t possible years ago.