In 2018, Bethesda Game Studios formally revealed Starfield, an ambitious, space-based RPG, the likes of which the world has never seen. Following years of development, Starfield is set to release in September 2023, and for the most part, Bethesda has been very forthcoming about the game and its features. Today, we’re looking at a big piece of that game and answering the question, ‘Is Starfield open world?’
Read More: Is Starfield coming to PS5?
Is Starfield Open to Explore?
Bethesda Game Studios made a monumental revelation in the run-up to the highly-anticipated launch of its all-new space-faring adventure. It revealed that, yes, Starfield is an open-world game, but it transcends the concept of simply being ‘open world’, taking it to the next level – open universe.
In Starfield, there will reportedly be 1000 explorable planets scattered across 100 star systems. It’s a gargantuan undertaking that is only mirrored by the likes of No Man’s Sky, which is a procedurally-generated, infinite game featuring boundless journeys across space.
So, is Starfield open-world? Yes, but it goes so far beyond that.
At present, we have no real representation of how big Starfield’s map is, but we can assume that it’s mindblowing. With 1000 planets to explore, there’s plenty of ground to cover, but unlike No Man’s Sky, it’s at least safe to assume that it’s doable. If you were to spend ten minutes on each planet, it’d take you around 166 hours to see everything in Starfield
Starfield is ripe for exploration, and players can traverse the open-world environment at their own pace. If you’re a completionist, then you’re free to poke around every corner of what will be one of the biggest maps in the history of gaming. However, if you’re a fast-paced, limited-time player, then it’s also safe to assume that you can complete Starfield without exploring much of the universe.
It’s like Fallout and the Elder Scrolls franchises – you don’t have to unlock every single location to ultimately complete the base game.
When Starfield launches in September, it’ll bring a mix of human-created and procedurally generated locations scattered far and wide across a vast, open-world environment. What more could fans ask for?
Starfield launches September 6th on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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