Finally, the release date for Starfield has been announced and it's September 6th. However, for RPG fans and possibly for Larian Studios, there is some bad news: the date falls exactly one week after the release of the highly anticipated Baldur's Gate 3 on August 31st.
No chance against Baldur's Gate 3?
This poses a dilemma for gamers: Can you complete a full Larian RPG in a week? Everyone plays at their own pace and I wouldn't speak for others, but let's be honest: that's by far not enough time.
This seamlessly leads to the next question: Do you really want to start a game the size of Baldur's Gate and then put it on hold for the weeks or months that Starfield will consume? Because, and here we should look at the situation honestly and objectively, will you really remember what you need to do in Chapter 2 of BG3 after spending some months in Starfield?
For me, this is also a clear statement: A long interruption in the middle of a robust story like I suspect Baldur's Gate 3 will bring to life, just means that I'd rather wait until I can really devote myself to it.
The competition will also be tough
Of course, Baldur's Gate 3 is not your only problem. The Pinocchio of Soulslike Lies of P is also coming out in August - an exact date has not yet been announced at this time, but the month has been announced - as well as the beautiful retro RPG Sea of Stars. These games may not represent the same kind of tough decisions for most gamers due to their niche genre appeal, but the timing could mean bad news for the games themselves: It's a given that Starfield will be a giant and that smaller games coming out at the same time will be overshadowed.
It's possible that some studios will try to dodge this bullet through a strategic delay. This would not be unforeseen: In 2020, several planned releases, including Everspace 2, The Medium, MechWarrior 5, and a major Path of Exile update, were all delayed to avoid Cyberpunk 2077. But that's also a risk for developers. September is still six months away and that's enough time for things to go wrong.
Closer look on June 11th
We'll take a closer look at Star
