Starfield’s concept had been in the studio's mind for some time prior to the trademarking of the name in 2013. According to Howard, "There were no other names [we considered]. It had to be 'Starfield'." Howard said active development of the game had been ongoing since the release of Fallout 4 in late 2015. By mid-2018, the game had moved out of pre-production, and was in a playable state.
