Accurate Starfield Galaxy Map
Image via Bethesda

Starfield Will Highlight If a Planet Is Barren, to the Joy of Fans

This helpful feature will let players know if they can expect company on any of the games 1,000 planets.

Starfield is going to be a huge game, with over 1,000 planets to explore and plenty of factions, characters, and locations to discover. However, with only a small percentage of planets having any signs of life, players are worried they will spend most of their time exploring empty worlds.

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Thankfully, it seems a helpful feature will provide all the details on each planet you find and want to explore, helping players pick and choose their space-spelunking destinations.

Related: Starfield: Release Date, Preorders & Gameplay Trailers

Players Will Have All the Planets Details Before They Land

Image by Bethesda
Image via Bethesda

Starfield boasts it has over 1,000 planets for players to explore, but only 10% of those will have any form of life, and that’s caused some fans to be concerned they will be stuck flying to planets with nothing there to do or anyone to interact with. It seems the developers have taken steps to help players with this aspect of the game, as Starfield will tell if a planet is barren before you even land on it.

Reddit user u/Dull-Caterpillar3153 posted the discovery recently and shows an image with the planet and UI with a section that specifies the system type, which, in this case, is listed as barren. With this helpful feature, players can avoid traveling to planets void of life, focus their attention on other systems, and save the hassle of traveling back and forth to worlds. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t wander on barren worlds if that’s your thing.

As expected, fans were thrilled with this discovery and happy to know they won’t need to invest so much time jumping back and forth into orbit. Others joked about wanting the ability to review planets or leave messages like FromSoftware games, with one of the top comments being, “Gonna land on every planet to leave a review. ‘Gorgeous rock formations. Immediately burst into flame. 3/10.'”

Of course, it is worth noting that barren planets aren’t entirely useless, as they can be rich in resources and may have a few hidden secrets. But regardless, it’s nice of Bethesda to include this feature to help players during their adventures. Plus, with planets being as huge as actual planets, it will likely take a while to explore them all.

Related: Starfield Fans Nervous Following Pete Hines’ Ambiguous Campaign Comments

Whether you decide to explore every planet or not, it’s not long until you can take to the stars, as Starfield is set to release on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S and September 1 for those who order the premium edition and get five-day early access.


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Author
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Matthew Fuller
Matt is a freelance writer based in the UK and has spent over three years covering and writing about video games. He discovered his love of games journalism while attending Canterbury Christchurch University, where he earned a bachelor's and master's degree in Game Design and has been writing ever since. He will find any excuse to play and write about games. When he isn't fighting dragons or exploring far-off galaxies, he spends his free time playing D&D, listening to music, or reading a good book. His primary game bests are Diablo IV, the Final Fantasy series, D&D, and anything new releasing that tickles his fancy.