Bethesda Softwork
Starfield almost had a voiced protagonist, but it was discarded for this reason
The main designer of Starfield has confirmed that Bethesda hired an actor for the role, but in the end, they changed their minds.
The old debate about mute characters is still alive. Bethesda decided that the protagonist of its next big production, Starfield, had no voice of its own. However, in statements to Polygon, the main designer of the game Emil Pagliarulo has revealed that they did get to hire an actor, although they changed their minds in the end. But why?
“We hired an actor, we got the voice, we listened to him and we were like, ‘You know what, this guy is too specific,’ We realized that the only way to really do it and let the player be the person they want to be was to have an unvoiced protagonist,” explained the developer.
Pagliarulo has also reflected on the figure of the mute character and its role in high-budget video games: “There was a time in the industry where every protagonist was voiced. It was a AAA thing. We started realizing, ‘You know what, maybe that’s not the case, maybe fans will actually enjoy the game even more…” On the one hand, he has stated that certain users prefer to listen rather than read; on the other, if you click on the dialogue and choose one of the answers at the end, the protagonist will say the same thing you are reading.
According to the designer, Starfield includes over 200,000 lines of spoken dialogue even without the main character having a voice. “It was not having a voiced protagonist that allowed us to create such a big world.”
What happened with the Xbox Games Pass $1 offer now that Starfield is out?
Many will have thought of taking advantage of the Xbox Game Pass offer for a single dollar to enjoy Starfield from day 1. However, Microsoft thought about it too, and they have decided to remove it before the Bethesda production sees the light of day. For this reason. those interested will have to pay the price of the full subscription or purchase the title in digital or physical format.
Starfield will be available September 6 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, and Game Pass. Early access will begin on September 1. During these days, some videos of the game have been leaked, which has led to the arrest of a person, accused of trying to sell stolen copies.