Starfield was in active development for about eight years. The development began following the release of Fallout 4 in 2015, with the game being officially announced in 2018 and released in 2023. The development cycle was extended due to delays, pushing it closer to eight years rather than the initially expected seven
. Todd Howard, the game's director, noted that it took seven years to really find the right approach during development, highlighting the project's complexity
