WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
One of the things setting Starfield apart from many sci-fi games is just how “human” its world feels when compared to its contemporaries in the genre. While much of the game’s tech is still far beyond humanity’s current capabilities, such as the grav drives in Starfield that power interstellar travel, nearly everything players interact with feels like something that is plausible even if its construction isn’t currently possible. The surprisingly grounded world of Starfield isn’t just limited to its tech, though, with the sometimes-questionable motivations of the game’s various characters illustrating that all-too-human traits like greed and a lust for power still persist in the far future.
Nowhere is this melding of futuristic tech with the frequently selfish motivations that have driven humanity throughout history more apparent than with the reveal of the truth behind one of Starfield’s biggest mysteries. In the years leading up to its release gamers had grown increasingly curious as to the fate of humanity’s home planet in the game, leading the lead quest designer to reassure gamers in late 2022 that the game would answer what happened to Earth in Starfield. The unsettling answer awaiting players late in Starfield’s campaign reveals the Faustian bargain one man made to enable humanity’s journey to the stars and shows the sometimes tragically high price of progress.
Unlocking the Secrets of Space in Starfield Wrought Unimaginable Consequences
Although players can visit Earth and some landmarks in Starfield at any point after they’ve obtained their first ship during the game’s opening hours, the truth of what led to the once-thriving planet’s demise isn’t revealed until far later. When tasked with visiting the now-dead Earth as one of the game’s final missions, players discover that the grav drives powering their adventures through the cosmos are what ultimately caused the planet’s downfall. Created and tested on Earth, the first prototype grav drive paved the way for future advances, but its experimental nature had catastrophic consequences.
Even as it opened the door to the deepest reaches of space, this early grav drive slowly weakened and off-set Earth’s gravity with each use. Over time, Earth could no longer hold onto its atmosphere, and humanity was left with only decades to flee the slowly suffocating planet. Although the technology would eventually be perfected, allowing future human outposts like Starfield’s New Atlantis to avoid the same tragic fate, nothing could be done to save humanity’s home planet. Billions were left to perish after being unable to secure a seat for the mass exodus from Earth.
A Faustian Bargain Sealed Earth’s Fate in Starfield
While the team working on the prototype drive was horrified to discover this unexpected side effect, its creator Doctor Victor Aiza had known of the dangers all along. In the ruins of a NASA facility players learn that, after finding one of the game’s Artifacts, Doctor Aiza had been contacted by one of Starfield’s mysterious Starborn. The Starborn gave Aiza the secrets of grav drive technology and a vision of a grand future where humanity had conquered the deepest reaches of space.
Knowing the horrific consequences it would unleash but ceaselessly driven by his hubris, Aiza continued testing the first of Starfield’s grav drives. Attempting to rationalize the apocalyptic outcome of his invention, players discover a note from Aiza in which he claims his actions were done in service of creating a future where humanity was “evolving and shining brightly across all of space.” Although still doggedly clinging to his belief that Earth’s demise served a higher purpose, Aiza openly questions whether he was simply trying to justify his own cowardice and mistakes towards the end of the note.
The truth behind the invention of grav drive and the role it played in Earth’s destruction raises weightier moral questions than many would expect from a title like Starfield. While the futuristic tech allowed humanity to soar to previously unimaginable heights, players must decide for themselves if it was truly worth it in the end.
Starfield is now available on PC and Xbox Series X|S