For the most part, when it comes to sci-fi franchises and their fictional planets, every single one has it’s own biome. We know it’s something of a reductive example given the wide plethora of sci-fi franchises out there, but Star Wars’ selection of planets is a prime example of this – and one that’s followed largely by series like Mass Effect and even the procedurally generated universe in No Man’s Sky. However, that’s not how it should be – and it might not be how it will be in Bethesda’s Starfield. Eagle-eyed fans excited for this sci-fi RPG think Starfield’s planets are going to have multiple biomes – and they just might be right.
Where has this conversation come from, and why does it matter? Well, it’s actually something that springs from a Bethesda Italia social media post from earlier in the month. As you’ll be able to see for yourself if you follow the link above, Bethesda Italia shared some Starfield concept art with the following statement:
“In Starfield, ogni pianeta avrà biomi unici. La flora e la fauna che troverai saranno un riflesso delle sue caratteristiche.”
If you’re not someone fluent in Italian, this translates to the following:
“In Starfield, each planet will have unique biomes. The flora and fauna you will find will be a reflection of its characteristics.”
Now, we know that sounds like a fairly standard statement, but the fact that “each planet will have unique biomes” is used and not “every planet will have a unique biome” has a few people thinking the same thing: Starfield’s planets are going to have multiple biomes.
When highlighted by ‘MysticalAnon‘ on Reddit, an Italian Starfield fan suggested that this is something of a mistranslation and that the word “biomes” would always need to be a plural in this situation. However, the argument is that there are simply not 1,000 or more unique biomes to have – so, making a statement suggesting that every single planet has a unique biome filled with unique flora and fauna would not make sense.
This led to something of a compromise between those discussing whether it was realisitc to expect every single planet to have multiple biomes. While we don’t know for certain what all the Starfield planets will look like, it does seem that at least some of them will feature multiple biomes.
How do we know this? Well, the official gameplay reveal from earlier in the year tells us quite a lot. Firstly, the “myserious moon of Kreet” looks to be a one-biome location in Starfield. We can’t say for certain, but the environment on the horizon seems largely unchanged from the environemnt around the player.
However, there are snapshots of landscape towards the end of the video that would suggest multiple biomes will appear in some cases – however, these look to be mainly mountainous regions in an otherwise-single biome location.
The thought that we could see multiple planets with multple biomes in Starfield is supported further by the most recent Constellation Questions video from Bethesda. Here, at the 01:08 mark, we see a planet from space that certainly looks like it’s going to feature a mixture lush green landscapes and arid deserts.
So, what do we think? Well, we certainly think there are going to be quite a few cases where we see one biome dominate a planet’s landscape. That much has been clarified already with the footage above, and it makes sense when you think about the logistics of having that many planets in your game.
However, we do think there are going to be quite a few – particularly those important to the main questline – that feature multiple biomes. The characteristics of each planets will be reflected in the flora and fauna, sure, but those flora and fauna will need somewhere to sit. The worlds built by Bethesda are always bound by rules and logic – we can’t see that changign with Starfield. So, if there’s going to be a planet with varied flora and fauna, there’s going to be one with varied biomes too.
The Starfield release date is a little ways off yet, but you can find out more about the Starfield cities and the Starfield religions right here. This is going to be big on Xbox, but you can find out about the best space games on PS5 right here.