How Vast is the Starfield Universe?
Just how expansive is Starfield? Unquestionably, Starfield is the most far-reaching project ever undertaken by Bethesda Game Studios, with continuous proclamations about its “1000 planets”.
However, in a gaming universe already populated by EVE Online, No Man’s Sky, and Elite: Dangerous, a mere number of planets doesn’t necessarily stand out. Starfield doesn’t even rank first in this category. So, what’s the scale of these planets? What activities and exploration can we expect on their surfaces? Are all of them worth the journey? And how does the enormity of Starfield measure up against other Bethesda RPGs?
Here’s our compilation of what we’ve discovered so far about the vastness of Starfield.
What’s the Real Count of Planets in Starfield?
So, we’ve heard there are 1,000 planets in Starfield, but what does this really mean? Approximately 100 star systems are estimated, and not all are immediately accessible until you have upgraded your starting ship. This gives us an average of 10 planets per star system. Todd Howard suggested about 10 percent of these planets might host life – whether that’s in the form of alien creatures or just exotic space flora. This leaves us with roughly 900 planets that are essentially inhospitable – yet some may hold distant outposts belonging to various human factions.
The majority of these planets will have surfaces that are procedurally generated – meaning an algorithm will create unique landscapes each time you land, offering different experiences in each game or even future playthroughs. However, a select number of planets feature major, meticulously crafted cities. So far, we are aware of four:
- Jemison, located in the Alpha Centauri system, boasts New Atlantis, the principal capital city for all human space exploration.
- Mars, within our own Solar System, is home to Cydonia, a vast industrial mining settlement and one of the first human colonies.
- Volii Alpha offers Neon, a city with a distinct cyberpunk aesthetic, under the control of formidable corporations.
- Akila houses Akila City, which is under the governance of the Space Cowboy-themed Freestar Collective.
What’s the Size of a Planet in Starfield?
It’s been challenging to secure a definitive answer to this intriguing question. Given what we’ve been shown and told thus far, it appears that we won’t have the ability to traverse the entire expanse of a planet.
Todd Howard’s comments suggest that when we land on a planet in Starfield, the game will generate an approximately “Skyrim-sized” area of the surface for us to explore. This still constitutes a vast territory. To put it into perspective, navigating through 1,000 territories the size of Skyrim is likely beyond what most of us could accomplish in a lifetime. What happens when we reach the boundaries of this area, though? Can we land at various locations on the same planet and explore multiple “Skyrim-sized” sections with differing biomes?
Sadly, these questions remain unanswered. And trust me, I’ve made every effort to find clarity. It seems that Bethesda Game Studios is balancing between keeping our expectations realistic while not stifling the excitement around the game. Until we have the chance to experience it first-hand, I suppose we’ll remain in suspense.
If Starfield Were a Novel: Gauging the Size of the Game in Literary Terms
Bethesda’s new cosmic offering, Starfield, boasts a staggering 250,000 lines of dialogue. To provide context, Skyrim consisted of around 60,000 lines, while Fallout 4 had about 110,000. This means Starfield’s dialogue alone is more than double that of their most dialogue-intensive game to date.
From the previews, we’ve discerned that each “line” in Starfield averages between 10 and 20 words. If we take an average of 15 words per line, we’re looking at a colossal total of about 3.8 million words. That’s equivalent to traversing the entirety of David Foster Wallace’s ‘Infinite Jest’ about six-and-a-half times!
So, what does this mean in terms of gameplay duration?
In an interview with IGN back in 2022, Todd Howard indicated that Starfield’s primary storyline would span about 30-40 hours. This suggests a main quest that’s approximately 20% lengthier than the core narrative of Skyrim, which generally requires between 15-30 hours to conquer.
But pure gameplay hours can be deceptive in vast open-world adventures. With side quests, faction missions, exploration opportunities, and crafting sessions, players might immerse themselves for hundreds of hours, yet still have the sense of unexplored territories and untapped potential. Until we get our hands on Starfield, it remains to be seen just how expansive this celestial journey from Bethesda truly is.
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