A former Bethesda developer recently revealed that he was surprised by how many loading screens were added to Starfield late in development. Frequent loading screens are among the most controversial aspects of Starfield, so it’s surprising to see a former developer claiming that the game could potentially have existed without them.
Released in 2023, Starfield was a fairly controversial game at launch. While Starfield obtained positive reviews, currently holding an average critic score of 85 on OpenCritic, the space exploration game was widely criticized by portions of the player base. Some of the most common criticisms against the title were aimed at its vast yet shallow open-world universe, and frequent, immersion-breaking loading screens.
Former Starfield developer Nate Purkeypile, who worked on Starfield until 2021, recently told VideoGamer that the title had significantly fewer loading zones during his tenure. The most visible locations where this was a problem were in the game’s cities, such as Neon, a place that Purkeypile worked extensively on. According to Purkeypile, Starfield “could have existed without those [loading zones]. Like, some of those were not there when I had been working on it and so it was a surprise to me that there were as many as there were.” Unfortunately, Purkeypile was not able to explain why these loading screens were added in the final version of the game, but his arguments indicate that it’s all about performance. The ex-Bethesda dev explained that the heavy segmentation of areas is due to how Bethesda’s Creation Engine works, and that gating some areas is mostly done to improve performance.
Former Bethesda Dev Claims Starfield Did Not Have So Many Loading Screens During Development
It could have existed without those [loading zones]. Like, some of those were not there when I had been working on it and so it was a surprise to me that there were as many as there were.
While Starfield’s many loading screens continue to frustrate some gamers, Bethesda is continuing to work hard to improve the game over a year after its launch. In recent Starfield updates, the performance of Starfield has been boosted, with countless bugs being remedied.
There’s also no shortage of new content, especially when considering the Creation Engine. Earlier in December, Starfield also added new Doom content for free. To commemorate the Doom franchise’s 31st anniversary, Starfield received a new Doom-inspired quest called “At Hell’s Gate. ” During the quest, gamers can snag a few unique items such as a Super Shotgun, Crucible Blade, and the Doom Slayer Praetor Suit.
Hopefully, the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6 will not have as many loading screens as Starfield. The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in June 2018, but it still seems far away from release, with gamers attempting to be patient while waiting for a development update.
