Starfield: Phil Spencer Spotted Playing the Game, but Only Todd Howard Authorised To Share Information

We’re less than two months away from the release of Xbox Studios and Bethesda’s highly anticipated Starfield. As fans keep riding on the hype, looking for more reveals and information, studio design director Emil Pagliarulo has revealed only Bethesda boss Todd Howard is “authorised” to publicly share information about the game. But on the other hand, Xbox boss Phil Spencer and Bethesda’s Pete Hines, seems to have already laid their hands on copies of the game.

Only Todd Howard is authorised to share official details about Starfield

Bethesda’s studio design director Emil Pagliarulo addressed questions of excited fans on a recent Twitter thread on July 13, telling them that he cannot help them with any more answers than he already has. According to Pagliarulo, he has signed an NDA which prevents him from talking about most things about the game, including game content and performance. He added that while he is “humbled” by the fans and their anticipation of Starfield, he cannot answer 99 percent of their questions.

????(1/2) I know this isn’t what any @StarfieldGame fan wants to hear from me, but I feel like I need to make this clear: no one other than Todd Howard himself is authorized to talk publicly about unreleased game info. That’s the job of of our PR/marketing/community folks.

— Emil Pagliarulo (@Dezinuh) July 13, 2023

Phil Spencer and Pete Hines are now playing Starfield

Having said that, Starfield was recently spotted on the Xbox Live profiles of Xbox boss Phil Spencer and Bethesda’s head of publishing Pete Hines. The game was visible on their recent history, suggesting that both have tried their hands at the game with pre-launch copies. The news was shared by Redditor cyberRakan, who posted a screenshot of the “Popular with friends” category on the Starfield subreddit.

While pre-launch copies are generally shared with codenames, this seems more like a conscious tease by both Spencer and Hines about the game, as fans brace themselves for the September 6 release.