In development since at least 2015 and announced at E3 2018, it’s safe to say that Bethesda Game Studios’ “Starfield” has been highly anticipated. However, while the game runs on Bethesda’s improved in-house Creation Engine 2, it won’t run on exactly the same hardware as “Fallout 4” or “Skyrim.”
So, will your PC run it and, perhaps more importantly, how well will it run? This article will analyze this question.
System Requirements
The game is large in scale, not necessarily large like “No Man’s Sky” (after much-needed updates), but much larger than previous Bethesda titles, with many hand-crafted and randomly generated NPCs, locations, and quests. Therefore, it is to be expected that the game will run better on more powerful hardware.
At the same time, “Starfield” isn’t the most optimized game, especially since it’s still relatively new, which could also contribute to its overall hardware demands.
These are the minimum and recommended system requirements for “Starfield” according to official recommendations.
Minimum requirements:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or Intel Core i7-6800K
- Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 5700 or NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
- Storage: 125 GB available space (SSD required)
- Memory: 16GB RAM
- DirectX: version 12
Recommended Requirements:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel i5-10600K
- Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
- Storage: 125 GB available space (SSD required)
System Requirements Warnings
The above system requirements may seem high and almost prohibitive to some people. But something worth remembering is that a game’s system requirements are not set in stone. Minimum requirements don’t necessarily represent the minimum system someone could use to play the game, but rather the specifications that the developers guarantee would run the game at least on lower settings.
If you have a reasonably powerful PC built in the last five to seven years, you’ll probably be able to at least fire up the game and see how it works for you. If you buy the game on Steam, try it within the refund window, and find that it is unplayable or unbearable for your system, you can get your money back.
The true minimum specifications will also depend on your tolerance and expectations. If you’re aiming for 60 FPS, at least at minimum settings, you’ll want to have hardware somewhat comparable to the game’s minimum specs or better. But if you can tolerate 30 FPS (very close to what the XBOX Series X/S port of the game is limited to), then you can get by with somewhat weaker hardware. If you don’t mind a lower resolution or a little extra stuttering, you could probably install slightly older or weaker hardware to play the game.
Why SSD?
Something that stands out in the requirements is the emphasis on SSD storage. Traditional hard drives can leave you staring at loading screens longer than you’d like. SSDs make loading faster, not only during loading screens but during gameplay in general.
Truth be told, technically the game will run on a hard drive, despite what the requirements tell you. But it may not be the best experience. It’s not just loading screens and caching shaders that can take a while, but you may also notice stutters or pop-ups during gameplay, especially when the game tries to load a lot of things at once.
Still, the potential for stuttering and issues during gameplay is not strictly related to a single piece of hardware, but rather the combination of all the components.
Patches
It’s also worth noting that “Starfield” is still a fairly new game and Bethesda won’t be leaving it behind anytime soon. As seen with titles like “Cyberpunk 2077,” updates and patches can greatly improve game performance and stability over time. So even if your PC doesn’t meet the requirements now, or you’re finding it difficult to play on your hardware, if you give it some time this could improve.
Modifications
Even if performance at lower specs doesn’t improve with official patches, not all hope is lost. There are always modifications. While of course mods can’t necessarily get the game running on everyone’s system, they can often help quite a bit.
“Starfield” has already been a popular playground for modders on Nexus and other game modding websites. And then came several performance optimization tweaks. An example is the Steam Platform Basics mod, which greatly improves game performance not only on the Steam Deck (as the name suggests) but also on many other lower-powered PCs. If you have already purchased the game and it is performing poorly on your system, try these mods.
Creation Engine 2
“Starfield” runs on Creation Engine 2. This engine is a modified and improved version of Bethesda’s in-house Creation Engine that is used to create “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” “Fallout 4” and “Fallout 76.” The original Creation Engine is itself an evolution of the Gamebryo engine of “Morrowind,” “Oblivion,” and “Fallout 3” fame. This continuity in engines is the reason why many tools for these games (such as SWAG either Mod Organizer 2) find it relatively easy to support all or most of these games.
However, the engine can be a double-edged sword. Its age and overall structure may make it more difficult to optimize for newer, larger games. And some of the old mistakes return too. For example, “Starfield” players reported the well-known actor limit bug, where too many generated NPCs could cause some of the characters to slowly float into oblivion.
However, continuity means that modders and people who create tools to enhance your gaming experience are intimately familiar with many of the engine’s mechanics and quirks. That’s why they can come up with new mods and fixes quickly and improve the game far beyond what the developers intended.
This extends to performance optimization. Modders and tool builders familiar with the technical side of the game can inject improvements, optimizations, and mechanics into Bethesda games rarely seen elsewhere. Just look at the “Skyrim” modding scene and you’ll get an idea of what “Starfield” could be like in a few years if it proves to have long-term appeal.
Comparing with consoles
For those familiar with console gaming, it’s interesting to note that the game’s performance on Xbox Series S and The Series
Prepare to launch
The vast space of “Starfield” can be impressive if you can get inside it. The relatively high system requirements for the game may have put off some eager and budget-conscious players along the way. And indeed, the game is demanding. After all, it’s a big, expansive game that pushes your computer’s hardware to its limits.
However, if you’re feeling discouraged because you’re on a low-end PC, older hardware, or Steam Deck, know that you may have better luck running the game than the system requirements make it seem.
How does your PC compare to the requirements? Let the community know in the comments below.
