Starfield story and plot explained – the story so far

The main Starfield story and plot has been something of focal interest since Bethesda Game Studios first announced its space-faring RPG. With a pedigree for storytelling established largely through titles like the Elder Scrolls Skyrim and Oblivion, and the Fallout series, players are no doubt expecting something impressive.

We’ll go over everything we know about the Starfield story for the main campaign so far, along with all the important plot beats and relevant speculation. There’s plenty to explore outside of the narrative too though, including the Starfield character creator and the host of Starfield companions who’ll be able to join you for your journeys.

Starfield premise

Starfield is set in and around the Settled Systems, a region of space heavily colonised by humankind. The year is 2330, and technology has advanced to allow for thriving interstellar civilisation. Humanity is far from unified though, and you’ll find a host of Starfield factions scattered across the cosmos.

These factions range in their ambitions, goals, and situations. Some are megacorporations like the Starfield Xenofresh Corporation faction. Others are ideologically-opposed governments like the Starfield Freestar Collective faction and the Starfield United Colonies faction. We know that all the major players will be involved in the main story in some capacity, though it’s likely that some, like the United Colonies, will have a larger role to play than others.

Your character steps into this world as a worker for a mining company called Argus Extractors, and from here, your journey will start.

Starfield opening mission

The opening mission for Starfield is called One Small Step. It’ll see you drop onto Kreet, a moon of the planet Anselon, after designing your player character. We don’t know all the story beats for this mission yet, but we know that its main focus will be getting the player to clear out a group of pirates from the Starfield Crimson Fleet faction who have taken over a research lab on the moon.

We also know that you’ll encounter an Artifact, one of several that are central to the plot of the campaign. Upon contact, the player character will experience cryptic visions, setting up a central mystery as to what the Artifacts are and what they do.

We know that, either just prior or just following your discovery of the Artifact, you’ll meet Barret, a scientist and explorer. More importantly, he’s a member of the Starfield Constellation faction, a faction of intrepid explorers investigating the Artifacts. Following your time spent with him, you’ll head on to New Atlantis City on Jemison to continue the campaign.

Starfield timeline

While we don’t know much about the story of the game itself, we do know about the timeline of events leading up to the events of Starfield, thanks to the game’s official website. In 2050, humans first arrived on Mars, and by 2100, they had started living in space. Within the next century, humans begin colonising star systems, reaching Alpha Centauri (4.37 light years away) in 2156. Following this, they establish the United Colonies, making New Atlantis its capital, while other factions also begin to form, such as the Freestar Collective in 2189.

Following tensions over unaffiliated peoples in the Narion system, the Narion War breaks out between the United Colonies and Freestar Collective in 2196. This lasts 20 years until the Treaty of Narion is signed in 2216, ending the conflict and establishing the term “Settled Systems”. This peace lasts until 2307, when the Freestar Collective begin farming on the planet Vesta in the Lunara system. The United Colonies claim this violates the Treaty of Narion, and invade Vesta, killing its inhabitants and beginning The Colony War.

In 2311, the war ends in the Freestar Collective’s favour after the Battle of Cheyenne, where a flotilla of military and civilian ships manage to take down major UC Navy ships. In response to this, the United Colonies start up their own civilian division, the UC Vanguard. Since the war, a peace has lasted 17 years, up to 2328, where Starfield takes place.

Starfield story

We don’t know much about the rest of the Starfield story and plot in the campaign, as Bethesda have kept most of the details close to its chest. What we do have is a decent picture of the general direction the main storyline might take, and who the big players are likely to be.

We know that Constellation are going to have an important role in the story, since they already possess several of the Artifacts. They’ll be involved closely with unravelling the central mystery at the heart of the game’s narrative, exploring anomalies, and figuring out what The Eye is. From what we’ve seen, including a sneak peak at our character’s visions, The Eye is a total unknown, possibly another Artifact, place, or entity that ties the whole thing together. We also know that Sarah Morgan, the faction leader for Constellation, will join you as a companion for at least some of the questline.

Outside of this, there’s very little else we can say for sure about the Starfield story and plot. We do know that we’re going to find out the fate of Earth early on in the campaign – a planet that has been very noticeably absent from trailers, features, and interviews so far. We can also speculate that it’s likely we’re going to see the United Colonies, the largest faction in-game, take on some sort of important role either within or adjacent to the main campaign.

If we also see the Freestar Collective, rivals to the UC, take an important place within the main plot, it’s not impossible that we’ll get a repeat of the multiple ending scenario from Fallout New Vegas. There’s certainly a similar vibe between the two interstellar powers as there was between the New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion.

Starfield side missions

We know that there’s going to be a lot to do outside of the main Starfield campaign. With over 1000 Starfield planets out there to explore, side missions will be the lifeblood of the game. At the moment though, since we don’t know much about what direction the main story will take, it’s impossible to guess whether or not there will be missions out there that could alter or affect the main plot. If we learn more about this before the Starfield release date arrives though, we’ll update you.

That’s everything we’ve got so far on the Starfield story and plot for the main campaign. There’s plenty more to discover though, so if you’re curious about some of the locales you’ll be visiting, like Mars, Cydonia City, and Neon City, be sure to take a look at our in-depth breakdowns so you’re fully prepared when the game comes out.

What is the main story of Starfield?

We don’t have a complete picture of Starfield’s main story so far, but we know that it revolves around exploring and collecting a group of mysterious Artifacts with the help of a group of scientists, to unravel the mystery around it.

How long is the Starfield campaign?

We know that the main story for Starfield is estimated to be around 30-40 hours long.