• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

STARFIELD - internal memo from Todd Howard sent today to colleagues

Matt_Fox

Member
Published by Microsoft

From Todd Howard, director of Starfield:

I knocked on Robert Altman’s door. “Got a few minutes?”

“Sure.”

It was early 2013, we were developing Fallout 4, and Skyrim was still enjoying enormous success. I was there to pitch him on our next game. It would not be a sequel to our current games, (he looked concerned), but a grand space RPG and our first new IP in over 25 years (looks curious). It would delve into creation and the search for our place in the universe (slight twinkle). You would explore the galaxy in ways only video games can do. And it would be called - Starfield. (Smile)

“Sounds fantastic.”
Robert would be the very first to believe in us, no matter the situation. Our path to creating Starfield would be a long and winding one where we made other games along the way (Fallout 4, Skyrim SE, Fallout Shelter, Skyrim VR, Fallout 76, Skyrim again…). The core development from 2020 to 2023 saw enormous changes in our lives. A global pandemic, Robert’s passing, and becoming part of Xbox.

It’s incredible to be at the moment where Starfield is finally launching this week. It only exists because everyone else believed as well. We’ve been supported for decades by everyone at ZeniMax, all doing their best work yet. Special thanks to our publishing teams who aimed to create not just another release, but something that would capture the minds and inspire gamers everywhere. And to our partners in QA who had the difficult task of testing a game where anything can (and will) happen. And thanks to Jamie Leder and our Admin/HR teams who supported everyone during the most challenging years any of us have faced.

And of course, there is Phil Spencer. His support of every game and every player has been unwavering and fierce. Joining Xbox brought us closer to so many we had worked with for over 20 years. I cannot imagine a better place to create games, where the diversity of studios, creators, and games are allowed to flourish. This support came from the entire Xbox leadership team and all areas of publishing and dev support. Special thanks to the magicians at ATG whose spells and incantations helped make this our best performing game.

Most importantly, is the team I work with at Bethesda Game Studios. It’s an incredible blessing to be surrounded by so many talented and inspirational people every day. Moments like this make you reflect back. Some of us have been together for decades, some joined more recently, but everyone has the same passion. I could not be prouder of their continued dedication to create something truly special.

Lastly, a huge thanks to all of you within the Xbox and Bethesda family. Your enthusiasm and encouragement have meant the world to us. Creating this game has been one of the most challenging and thrilling experiences of our careers - a journey we'll never forget. And as we come to the end of this chapter, we pass it along to you. Each of you is receiving the game with Early Access, and can begin playing this Friday Sep 1st, but since it’s one global time you can actually play Thursday evening (Thanks New Zealand!).

We hope you get a chance to play, and that your journey is as rewarding as ours.

All our best,

Todd
 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
idc laughing GIF
 

StueyDuck

Member
Lol...

"Internal memo"

There's literally a paragraph dedicated to Phil Spencer 🤣 why the fuck would the guy who paints the bushes care about that

Good luck to the real team and the launch though (not this fake marketing), I hope it goes well
 
Last edited:

mejin

Member
Lol...

"Internal memo"

There's literally a paragraph dedicated to Phil Spencer 🤣 why the fuck would the guy who paints the bushes care about that

Good luck to the real team and the launch though (not this fake marketing), I hope it goes well

Maybe he believes in Phil Spencer
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Those saying this sounds like an ad have obviously never been in a higher corporate environment to see just how much is devoted to kissing each other's asses to make the company look good to itself. There are multiple tiers of employees whose entire job is to convert reports from the lower ranks into something that makes the rank above them look like they're kicking ass so that they can show show it to the even higher ranks in hopes of getting promoted for how much productivity they're driving or at least a bigger bonus. The upper ups like Todd will spend 1/3 time crushing people's balls in private meetings, 1/3 their time kissing ass and making ridiculous promises to cut deals, and 1/3 the time waxing poetic to the company in every group meeting, half of which are called solely for said task.
 
Last edited:

Cyberpunkd

Member
Lol...

"Internal memo"

There's literally a paragraph dedicated to Phil Spencer 🤣 why the fuck would the guy who paints the bushes care about that

Good luck to the real team and the launch though (not this fake marketing), I hope it goes well
You never worked in a corporate setting, did you?
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Those saying this sounds like an ad have obviously never been in a higher corporate environment to see just how much is devoted to kissing each other's asses to make the company look good to itself. There are multiple tiers of employees whose entire job is to convert reports from the lower ranks into something that makes the rank above them look like they're kicking ass so that they can show show it to the even higher ranks in hopes of getting promoted for how much productivity they're driving or at least a bigger bonus. The upper ups like Todd will spend 1/3 time crushing people's balls in private meetings, 1/3 their time kissing ass and making ridiculous promises to cut deals, and 1/3 the time waxing poetic to the company in every group meeting, half of which are called solely for said task.
This guy worked or works in corporate. Let's hang out with Arasaka bois after work.
 

StueyDuck

Member
You never worked in a corporate setting, did you?
When people say this (gets said alot on this forum) I start to think they've never worked in a corporate setting.

I will never send a memo to my team with regards to the success of a launch and turn it into 5 paragraphs of advertising a product and thanking the literal CEO of the company who has never interacted with me or my team.

Do tell me about how your corporate memos are like that though
 
Last edited:

L*][*N*K

Banned
There's literally a paragraph dedicated to Phil Spencer 🤣 why the fuck would the guy who paints the bushes care about that
I just assume you have never worked in an office before.
I will never send a memo to my team with regards to the success of a launch and turn it into 5 paragraphs of advertising a product and thanking the literal CEO of the company who has never interacted with me or my team.
and you will also never lead a team of 500 developers building a multi million dollar product for 7 years.
 
Last edited:

Wingnut

Member
I will never send a memo to my team with regards to the success of a launch and turn it into 5 paragraphs of advertising a product and thanking the literal CEO of the company who has never interacted with me or my team.
You really think Phil Spencer never interacted with the team?
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
God damn it, I actually thought that he was talking about Robert Altman the director until I remembered that he died in 2006, lol.

Bamboozled again.
 

StueyDuck

Member
I'm sure Todd and Phil have weekly meetings.
Yes they do.

But this is an "Internal memo" that is apparently meant to be thanking the team and wishing a successful launch.

And I wouldn't advertise and suck up in that memo.

If it's your generic internal memo then sure, I get it. Kiss ass get the cash, that's the idea.

But people really are falling for this marketing ad
 

L*][*N*K

Banned
It's what the marketing team surely wanted him to say
Is Jim Ryan paying you to say these things, it is so weird it is like a one-man army against Microsoft operation you are running man, take a break go play Knack 2 New Game+ or something.
 
Last edited:

StueyDuck

Member
Is Jim Ryan paying you to say these things, it is so weird it is like a one-man army against Microsoft operation you are running man, take a break go play Knack 2 New Game+ or something.
Haha console wars. You are smurtss

Here is your smurts award. 5 whole smurts
 
Top Bottom