Ah to be fair I haven't played Starfield or even watched too many videos. I also didn't like FO4 much so I was pretty much running with the assumption that they hadn't changed much since 2011

Still, they may not need as many engine programmers if they reduce what their in-house engine needs to do. Could free up finances to hire more people to work on the meat and bones of the game. Or they could just pocket the difference and not give a fuck about making a good game, that seems quite likely too.