Starfield: Release Date, Story, Gameplay, Performance, More

Starfield is a sci-fi open world RPG from Bethesda Game Studios, the company behind some of the most genre-defining games like Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3. It's BGS's first new IP in over 25 years and features a much bigger open-world experience than anything the studio has put before. 

The sci-fi RPG is also Xbox's biggest first-party release of 2023, whether we talk about its scale, scope, or size. It's a space opera where according to Todd Howard, "you can go wherever you want and be whoever you want." 

Since you're here, we assume you can't wait to get your hands on Starfield or are curious to check it out. Our Starfield hub page has everything you need to know about this space epic, including its release date, platforms, story, setting, gameplay, and more. Let's dive in!

31 August 2023 - This article is updated with the latest Starfield news and information.

Starfield Latest News

When Will Starfield Come Out? - Release Date

Starfield will be released on 6 September 2023 for PC, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Series X|S. You can also get up to five days of early access by purchasing the game's premium edition. Have a look at our detailed Starfield pre-order guide for more info. 

What Is The Starfield Story & Setting About?

Starfield is set in our solar system, in a place called the Settled Systems. It takes place in 2330, 20 years after the harrowing Colony War between two of the game's factions - the United Colonies and Freestar Collective. 

You play as a custom-created space explorer whose journey begins as a member of Constellation, one of the game's many factions, after discovering a mysterious alien artifact. From the trailers, it's evident that Starfield's main story is about exploring the galaxy for these artifacts that hold the power to change the fate of humanity. 

Starfield features over 1,000 planets. Of course, these are not all handcrafted, but Bethesda has confirmed four major cities that look and feel quite distinct from one another. These are New Atlantis, Neon, Akila City, and Cydonia. Your story begins in New Atlantis, home to the Constellation.

What Can I Expect From The Starfield Gameplay?

In a nutshell,  Starfield is an open-world RPG where you explore different environments for resources and loot, combat human and alien creatures, talk to NPCs, complete main and side quests, unlock new skills, build and manage settlements and spaceships, and indulge in space combat. 

Past BGS games have enjoyed tremendous longevity, with thousands of players still playing games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 to this date. Starfield is already looking to be an expansive experience, even more so than past BGS with its 1000+ explorable planets. And this isn't even counting the modded content that will likely make its way to the game after its release. 

Starfield also features one of the most in-depth character creation systems among any BGS title. From standard customization options like body type and skin color to more consequential ones like Background and Traits, players could spend tons of hours in the character menu itself. 

While it hasn't been confirmed, Starfield could also feature mini-games to keep players busy for an even longer amount of time. Skyrim didn't have one per se, but Fallout 4's Automatron DLC added a Pip-Boy mini-game which was pretty fun.

What Is Starfield's Performance Like On Xbox & PC?

Alright, it's time to discuss the elephant in the room. Past BGS didn't have the best performance on consoles or PC, with the most recent release Fallout 76, being a complete disaster at launch. For a company with such a turbulent record in terms of game performance and stability, it's easy to be concerned for Starfield. 

Not everything is blue, of course, and it's no surprise that Starfield is Bethesda's first current-gen-only title built on the new Creation Engine 2.0. Visually speaking, it's the best-looking BGS title ever, with incredible lightning and draw distances. However, all of this has some fans even more concerned about its performance on the Xbox Series consoles and PC.

Starfield runs at 30 FPS on both Xbox Series X|S. On XSX, it targets native 4K resolution, whereas on XSS, it targets 1440p. On the PC side of things,  Starfield has a standard minimum and system requirements, with one exception being the mandatory SSD. Additionally, it requires a whooping 125 GB of space. You can check the full PC specs here.

The one major concern on the PC right now is the AMD exclusivity, which pretty much confirms no official DLSS support at launch. For those unaware, the DLSS technology uses AI technology to improve FPS without hampering the picture quality. It significantly improves the performance for graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, and many fans were hoping to have a similar experience with Starfield. Thankfully, Nvidia users can still use AMD's FSR 2 technology to improve the game's performance on their high-end devices, but it's too early to predict the final outcome. 

Like past BGS games, Starfield could be a game that players play for years to come. There could be hidden gameplay mechanics, secrets, or features that BGS has yet to reveal. We will continue to update this article as more Starfield news and updates arrive, so don't forget to take a peek every now and then. That's everything you need to know about Starfield.