The Language Controversy Surrounding Starfield Enrages Gamers

The language options for Starfield have caused disappointment among some fans of the game. Despite being highly anticipated, with evidence of strong pre-release sales on Steam, some gamers are unhappy with recent revelations about the upcoming title. This discontent has even led to a negative user review on Metacritic, although the reason for the dissatisfaction remains unclear. The review mentions Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda, suggesting that he has misled customers about Starfield, but provides no further details. Metacritic has since removed the review in question.

Microsoft's commitment to localizing games for a wider audience seems to have fallen short, leaving gamers around the world feeling upset. Specifically, Korean and Arabic speaking gamers are petitioning for the localization of Starfield to better serve their communities. With over 300 million Arabic speakers worldwide and just under 80 million Korean speakers, Microsoft's lack of attention to these markets is surprising, especially considering their full Xbox support in Korea and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, there are millions of Arabic speakers in Europe who would benefit from localized games. Unfortunately, Starfield recently removed support for the Russian language, leaving gamers in countries such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan feeling left out and disregarded.

The removal of Russian language support from Starfield remains a mystery, causing disappointment for Russian speakers living outside of the country. This is particularly frustrating given reports that the game was already playable in January 2023. While Bethesda never had any intention of supporting Korean and Arabic languages in Starfield, the game's official website is available in Korean. Starfield is set to release on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.