Highlights
- Starfield will be the first Bethesda game to feature real-time pickpocketing, a notable change from its previous RPGs.
- The game will have similar pickpocketing mechanics as previous Bethesda games, but the inventory browsing part will now play out in real-time.
- It is possible that Starfield will offer a dedicated Pickpocket skill, or it may be incorporated into the Theft skill. The game's skill system will be based on Ranks that players can unlock by completing challenges.
Starfield will be the first Bethesda game to feature real-time pickpocketing. This major change to one of Bethesda's classic RPG skills was pointed out by one eagle-eyed fan shortly after some Starfield Constellation Edition pre-orders exhibited signs of getting canceled.
While Bethesda's space-fairing RPG is still some six weeks away from release, the latest Starfield Direct delivered a detailed overview of many aspects of the upcoming game. As a result, the fandom has been hard at work scrutinizing every frame of the June 11 event, with those efforts recently resulting in calls for one notable Starfield UI fix.
The latest revelation stemming from that continued scrutiny came from Reddit user OkPain2022, who recently realized that Starfield will be Bethesda's first-ever game to feature real-time pickpocketing. This is a notable change for the renowned studio, not least because the ability to pick NPCs' pockets has been part of Bethesda's role-playing games since their very beginnings.
The studio's first game that featured pickpocketing was the 1994 classic The Elder Scrolls: Arena. And while this iconic RPG lacked a dedicated pickpocketing skill, it implemented the ability to steal from NPCs as part of a general Thievery skill that also encompassed the lockpicking talent. All subsequent installments in The Elder Scrolls franchise and Bethesda's single-player Fallout games featured pickpocketing, which the studio historically implemented as a simple container menu with a success check that would process upon exiting a given NPC's inventory, assuming the player actually tried taking anything from the target.
Some of the gameplay footage shared at the latest Starfield Direct suggests that the upcoming game will have similar pickpocketing mechanics, although the inventory-browsing part will now play out in real time. The change appears to be part of a wider inventory overhaul that will see Starfield feature real-time interactions with all containers in the overworld, similar to how looting worked in Fallout 76.
It's possible that Starfield will offer a dedicated Pickpocket skill similar to the recent The Elder Scrolls games, as well as Bethesda's single-player Fallout titles. However, the developer has yet to actually confirm that, seeing how it hasn't yet shared a full list of such in-game talents. Pickpocketing might also be incorporated into the game's already confirmed Theft skill, similar to how Thievery worked in TES: Arena. Regardless, improving one's ability to pick pockets in Starfield should be as simple as practicing that activity as often as possible. Namely, Starfield's skill system will be based on Ranks that players will be able to unlock by completing certain in-game challenges revolving around any given talent.
Starfield launches September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.