Starfield has "fewest bugs that any game from Bethesda has ever shipped with", Microsoft says

Microsoft Game Studios head Matt Booty has said Starfield, at present, has fewer bugs than any other Bethesda game at launch.

Booty appeared on the Giant Bomb podcast with Xbox boss Phil Spencer to discuss the Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct.

"We have an awful lot of people internally playing it," said Booty. "Working with Todd and the team, I see bug counts and just by the numbers, if it shipped today, this would have the fewest bugs that any game from Bethesda has ever shipped with."

Spencer added: "The team has definitely matured. They've got Fallouts and Skyrims and Elder Scrolls under their belt. Truth be told, when the acquisition closed, this game had a significantly earlier ship date than where we're actually launching it.

"I think Matt said we have every QA person in our entire company playing Starfield right now, looking at bug counts, looking at the quality of where we are. The nice thing about what we showed today from my perspective is: that was the game. We've been playing the game for quite a while and that's the game."

Bethesda games are notorious for their (often amusing) bugs and, with the ambition of Starfield, bugs seem almost inevitable. Hopefully these comments stand the test of time, and don't bite Booty back down the line.

And while the sheer number of bugs might be fewer, that doesn't discount one singular but devastating bug lingering. We can hope that's not the case, of course.