Starfield is more Oblivion than Skyrim says Xbox Boss but it’s not clear what he means 

Starfield is far closer to Bethesda’s Oblivion than it is Skyrim. That’s according to Xbox head Phil Spencer, though there’s some debate over what he means. 

Bethesda’s RPG offerings are legendary. From Elder Scrolls to Fallout, the studio is best known for pushing the boundaries of AAA games in the genre. That’s what many are hoping Starfield does with its release next month. 

However, which one is their very best is very much up for debate. Even within the Elder Scrolls franchise, there’s fierce debate about what’s the best game. Obviously, Skyrim is far and away the most played, but Oblivion and Morrowind lovers will fight vehemently for their preferred title. There are even some defenders of the utterly massive Daggerfall.

However, recent comments about Starfield from Xbox head Phil Spencer have tapped into this discussion. At Gamescom this week, speaking to IGN on Tiktok, Spencer said: “I think it’s more Oblivion than Skyrim. For people who’ve played [both], maybe they will get that.” However, it seems there is a decent amount of interpretation as to what Spencer means. 

What makes something more Oblivion than Skyrim? 

In a Reddit thread about the clip, which has over 2.6k upvotes at the time of writing, players are debating exactly what Spencer means. One user posited, “Skyrim improved on Oblivion in terms of gameplay (combat was much better, for example) but the writing and quests were much better in Oblivion, and the RPG systems were more complex.”

Another said, “Oblivion was….jank, but it’s my favorite out of them all because it balances the rpg and the casual parts better than the others.”

“In Skyrim you can literally be the best at everything and level that up. In Oblivion you could still level everything up but leveling was more efficient if you focused on your major skills and therefore there was more of a ‘class flavor’”, another Redditor said.

Whatever Spencer means exactly, it does seem to be implying that the game has deeper RPG elements. Specifically, it’s hard to say, as he didn’t elaborate. Still, whatever he means, players seem to agree it means something good. That’s reason enough to be excited.