European Space Agency casts doubt on Starfield timeline
The lore of Starfield is already pretty illuminating, but it looks like some real-life scientists aren't quite buying it.
31st Aug 2023 17:20
Images via Bethesda
European Space Agency casts doubt on Starfield timeline
The lore of Starfield is already pretty illuminating, but it looks like some real-life scientists aren't quite buying it.
31st Aug 2023 17:20
Images via Bethesda
We're just about ready to strap on our space boots and get to work exploring the galaxy in Starfield, but as ever, there are those willing to try to poke holes in the game.
Invisible walls and writing have come under scrutiny from gamers from either side of the Xbox vs PlayStation scrap, and it seems there are plenty of naysayers of Bethesda's design with little faith in their potential execution.
There are still those who are holding out hope for the expansive lore of Starfield, and while plenty of elements are pretty realistic, some real-life scientists aren't yet entirely convinced.
The European Space Agency scrutinises Starfield's timeline
Speaking with Eurogamer, the European Space Agency's Emmet Fletcher has revealed that though Starfield is based on what could potentially become our future, we've got some pretty big strides in space travel to make before it becomes reasonable.
Fletcher reckons we need to get to Mars much sooner than currently expected for this sequence of events to be set off, and even then, it's pretty unlikely. With the Starfield timeline claiming humans landed on Mars in the year 2050, that would give us just 27 years to get there.
"It's an interesting schedule. I mean, quite recently, some of the schedules were around that for Mars, but Mars is difficult. I mean, Mars is really tough," he says. "[The moon landing] was a 'superpower versus superpower' thing. They could invest huge amounts of their domestic product to do their moonshot."
The ESA thinks it's not entirely outside the realms of possibility, although we'd better get our skates on: "The world has changed... and a lot of the developments in the space industry today are driven on commercial, and [ESA] is still driven on the science side. I mean, that's the heart of the agency."
Is Earth destroyed in Starfield?
The timeline of Starfield has helped to illuminate some of what we can expect from the story of the game, but it appears to have neither proven nor disproven the theory that the Earth, in its timeline, is no longer inhabitable.
The lack of mention of Earth is fascinating, and we'll likely find out more about its fate over the course of the game. As of right now, it doesn't look like humans are living there. The review embargo for Starfield has now lifted, and with early access going live, you won't have long to wait to find out.
If we were you, we'd start muting everything #Starfield on Twitter. As Fletcher goes on, he indicates that without Earth, humanity will struggle - and that looks to be exactly the case with Starfield. Uh oh. Either way, 2050 on Mars might not be a date to mark in your diary.
About The Author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
