Starfield fans think they've figured out the launch date

pcgamer.com:

We don't know exactly when Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield(opens in new tab) will launch, only that it will be sometime in the first half of 2023. But some fans think they've got it figured out, and while I'm not fully convinced by their argument, I have to admit it's impressive.

It all goes back to the official Starfield gameplay reveal(opens in new tab) on June 12. As YouTuber LoneVaultWanderer tweeted the following day, the registration number on the ship is SV 821 393, a cool little Easter egg—821,393 is the patent number(opens in new tab) of the Wright brothers' famous flying machine.

Here's a cool Easter Egg in the Starfield trailer.The number on the spaceship, SV 821 393, is the same as the US patent of the Wright brother's flying machine, No. 821,393.This was the very first successful motor-operated airplane in the world. Very fitting for Starfield. pic.twitter.com/jf0GYZthPiJune 13, 2022

And in case you're wondering, yes, it's legitimate—the number can be seen clearly at least twice in the video. This is from a still of the landing on Kreet at the beginning of the gameplay video:

Patent 821,393 was granted(opens in new tab) on May 22, 1906, but the filing for the patent was on March 23, 1903. This is where the theory starts to become a bit of a reach: March 23 is seen as the potential go-day because the day of the filing is the real eureka moment—the granting of the patent three years later is more of a «gears of the immense bureaucratic machine have finished grinding» moment, which isn't nearly as poetic—and also because it will represent the 120th anniversary of the event, which is a pleasantly round number, ideal for anniversaries.

One other factor in favor of the March date was noted by redditor