Starfield composer and long-time Bethesda collaborator Inon Zur has been discussing his decades-spanning work with the studio, sharing his thoughts on “visionary” Bethesda boss Todd Howard, as well as his belief that “people were just not ready for” 2023’s divisive space adventure.
Zur’s composition credits span an impressive number of game series, including Dragon Age, Crysis, Prince of Persia, and Starcraft. And he’s been a regular presence across Bethesda’s work too, composing for numerous Fallout games, as well as the likes of Starfield. Zur, speaking with RPGsite.net, recently discussed his relationship with the studio – how, while the team still provides direction for each project, they also “trust me to apply my judgment because they know me so well” – as well as working with Bethesda’s Todd Howard.
“Todd is one, if not the most creative and invigorating human beings in the industry,” Zur revealed. “He just doesn’t stop. He always has new ideas. He always knows what he wants. He is very persuasive and has a very strong character. He will also find ways to describe what he wants without really calling it a name. He knows how to allow freedom of creativity on one hand, but also how to steer it to his own vision. He is a visionary. He sees things that people will start to find out years later.”
And for Zur, that also applies to Starfield, which launched to a mixed reception back in 2023. “I believe people were just not ready for it,” he continued. “It’s a different way of looking at it, but Todd is really strong, and he said very, very lightly, ‘Look, if you don’t like it, then you don’t like it, but this is the new thing that we’re doing, and we’re sticking to it.’ He believes in his way, and it just has proven time and time again that eventually people will understand his vision.”
“It just takes time and this is a common thing for all the big visionaries,” Zur added. “Sometimes people really don’t understand them correctly, but they were strong enough to stay on course, and Todd will stay on course on Starfield. Starfield will eventually become something that will be legendary. I have no doubt. It’s just a matter of time.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Zur discussed his approach to composing for video games, his thoughts on current game soundtracks, and more. As for Starfield, there’s something brewing on that front following last year’s Shattered Space DLC, although exactly what is currently unclear. Previous whispers had suggested the space adventure is due to recieve a substantial update, but Howard recently moved to get expectations in check, saying that while Bethesda is “working on a lot of Starfield content” it’s “not Starfield 2.0”.
