Starfield United Colonies faction guide

The Starfield United Colonies faction are looking like a likely contender for the most important faction in the game. While there’s still plenty we don’t yet know about Bethesda’s space adventure RPG, what we’ve seen indicates that players should look to learn all they can about the factions in the upcoming game.

Here then, we’ll go over the Starfield United Colonies faction, who they are, what they want, and how to join them. They’re far from the only faction you’ll be able to join though, so if the Starfield Crimson Fleet faction or the Starfield Xenofresh Corporation faction end up sounding more like your cup of tea, check out everything we have on them as well.

Who are the United Colonies faction in Starfield?

The United Colonies are the largest faction in Starfield, a centralized republic representing the preeminent military and political power within civilised space. Having been established back in 2161, they’re a 169-year-old group by the time of the game’s story, making them even older than the mythic Starfield Constellation faction.

Constellation actually shares a home with the United Colonies, with the capital city of the United Colonies being located in New Atlantis on the planet Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system. We also know that Cydonia city on Mars is a key asset within the UC, thanks to its major mining infrastructure that supplies the faction with raw materials. While we don’t know the full extent of their territory, we can expect that it’s likely massive, going by the substantial wealth and prosperity of their capital, and their reach into humanity’s origin system. It’s a largely cosmopolitan society, having been described as a “melting pot with citizens from every race, creed, and ethnicity” by developers, which is another hint that the size of the United Colonies is bound to be impressive.

The United Colonies are overseen by a council known as the Military, Administrative and Scientific Triumvirate, or MAST. They stand for law and order above all, with stability being a high priority. Their ambitions beyond this are as yet unclear. We don’t know a lot about the faction’s political structure, but early looks at some of its most important members, like Fleet Admiral Pascual Logan, suggest that the sizable military of the United Colonies probably wield significant influence within the government bodies.

This focus on the rule of law is one of a few reasons why the United Colonies are direct rivals to the second largest entity, the Starfield Freestar Collective faction. The two spent a while embroiled in a bloody conflict called the Colony War, which came to an end with an uneasy truce around 20 years prior to the start of Starfield’s story. Just because they’re at peace though doesn’t mean tensions aren’t running high. We can likely expect a system similar to that in Fallout: New Vegas and its New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion rivalry, where showing favour to one faction will anger the other. The UC do have other enemies though, and are openly hostile to the Crimson Fleet, taking a kill-on-sight approach to the faction.

Can I join the United Colonies faction in Starfield?

You will be able to join the Starfield United Colonies faction. We know that players will be able to join the UC on a mission to take down the Crimson Fleet, and that there are likely to be plenty of faction quests you can perform for them too. These will likely help to build reputation, which will be your path to joining the faction properly, though we can’t yet say with certainty that this is how it’ll work.

That’s everything we’ve got for you on the Starfield United Colonies faction, what they’re about, and how to join them. There are lots of other factions to explore though, like the Starfield Ryujin Industries faction. There’s also plenty to do outside of the factions and organisations fighting for dominance on the galactic stage, so make sure you’re clued in on all the Starfield star systems, if you’d rather head out into the great unknown and explore.