At the release of the space role-playing game Starfield, all that was talked about was the number of downloads that interrupted gameplay. As it turned out, they became an unpleasant surprise not only for gamers, but also for the ex-developer of the project.
Image source: Steam (Jawa)
Former Bethesda Game Studios lead artist Nate Purkeypile, who left the company in 2021, said in an interview with VideoGamer that during his work on Starfield, the game did not have such an abundance of downloads as at release.
Purkypile was surprised by the segmentation of the city Neon worked on while at Bethesda: “It could exist without these [downloads]. Some of them weren’t around when I was working on [Neon], so the number of them was a surprise to me.”
Image source: Steam (Chris)
According to Purkeypile, the limitation was a consequence of the Creation Engine used in Starfield. In Neon, numerous loading screens have been added to improve performance.
The new Atlantis was designed taking into account the possibility of moving around areas by train – instead of views of the city, players are treated to a loading screen. “I think it was done so that you don’t have to sit on the train the whole trip,” jokes Purkeypile.
Image source: Bethesda Softworks
Despite numerous problems, Bethesda Game Studios did not abandon Starfield. Since release, the game has received a number of updates based on user feedback, including additional content and features.
Starfield was released in September 2023 on PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X, S and Game Pass, and in September 2024 received the Shattered Space story addon. The game’s audience exceeds 15 million people.