Highlights
- An exploit in Starfield allows players to clear the stolen status from their ill-gotten goods by selling them at a Trade Authority vendor and buying them back.
- Contraband items in Starfield are easier to smuggle than stolen goods and can also be sold at the Trade Authority.
- The Trade Authority's reputation for laundering stolen goods suggests that the exploit may be an intended feature rather than a bug, but it is useful regardless.
Much like any other Bethesda game at launch, Starfield is full of exploits for players to take advantage of, and one method in specific lets characters clear the stolen status from their ill-gotten goods. Contrary to its predecessors such as Skyrim or Fallout 4, Starfield also has contraband as a new category of items which represent illicit (but not necessarily stolen) goods. Though players have ways of smuggling contraband whenever they grav jump into occupied space (usually by upgrading their ship), stolen goods aren't subject to any law enforcement scanners, and are much easier to smuggle.
Weapons in Starfield take inspiration from Fallout 4, with many Bethesda fans widely praising the gunplay, as well as the variety of options made available to them – from laser and ballistic weapons to melee and shotguns. However, sometimes Starfield players can find themselves "borrowing" a legendary gun for the long-term, and in those situations, it's important to know how to off-load or clean those items without getting into trouble with the law.
Provided the scanner doesn't pick up any contraband goods on the way in, Starfield players can waltz their way to the local Trade Authority building, whether it's on New Atlantis, Akila, or Neon. This place is the go-to for both stolen and contraband items, and it's the main star of the exploit method shared by the appropriately named CtrlAltEvil on Starfield's official subreddit. Namely, players can sell their stolen goods at any Trade Authority vendor (instead of the kiosk), and then buy them back at the same price to effectively clear the stolen tag from the item.
This strategy not only seems to work, but it may actually be supported by Starfield's lore as well. The Trade Authority has a reputation of laundering stolen goods for its customers, which means that the exploit is more of an intended feature than a bug. While Bethesda (and modders) will be hard at work in fixing Starfield's major bugs in the coming months, the Trade Authority's position in the game as Starfield's fence may end up saving this laundering method from the chopping block.
Though it has yet to have a full release, Starfield is becoming a hit on Steam even in Early Access, as it accumulated a peak of a quarter million concurrent players on launch day. While Bethesda's latest sandbox has its shortcomings, it's far from a disappointing game, and players are finding plenty of fun activities to do in Starfield – legal or otherwise.
Starfield releases on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.