Starfield's active development started following the release of Fallout 4 in November 2015. The game's name was trademarked earlier in 2013, and pre- production likely began between 2012 and 2013. Official production was ongoing by mid-2018 when the game was already playable. Bethesda had been conceptualizing space-themed games for a long time, but Starfield became an active project after Fallout 4's release in 2015.