Starfield: The Epic Scale Beyond Skyrim Revealed!

Starfield and Skyrim Map Size Comparison

Starfield surpasses Skyrim in terms of size, boasting an impressive 1,000 planets, each offering a vast expanse of explorable terrain spanning a few square miles. To put it into perspective, the entire map of Bethesda's Skyrim, which encompasses approximately 15 square miles, pales in comparison to the vastness of a single planet within the expansive universe of Starfield.

In Skyrim, it would take a player about 3 hours to travel across the entire map by foot. However, in Starfield, each terrain tile might take approximately 1 hour for players to cross.

Starfield’s Map Vs. Other Bethesda Games

Boasting a sprawling expanse of 62,394 square miles, The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall once held the distinction of being Bethesda's largest game, a title later claimed by Fallout 3. However, early projections now suggest that Starfield could potentially surpass this record with a staggering 1,000,000 square miles of immersive and traversable terrain.

Here’s a map comparison between Bethesda games to put that in perspective:

How Can Starfield’s Star Map Be So Large?

Starfield leverages procedural generation to extend planetary environments, enabling developers to craft a vast galaxy consisting of 100 star systems and over 1,000 planets. Bethesda, the company behind Starfield, has been utilizing procedurally generated biomes since 1996. Specifically, they employed this technique to create one of the largest maps in gaming history for The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall.

Is Starfield Bigger Than No Man’s Sky?

No Man's Sky's developers claim that the game's open-world universe boasts an impressive 18 quintillion planets, far exceeding the number of star systems in Starfield.

Although Starfield uses procedural generation, its map size is not as vast as No Man's Sky. No Man's Sky uses procedural generation to generate new planets, while Starfield applies it to create varied planet biomes and terrains. It is worth mentioning that the quantity of planets in Starfield remains constant.

Starfield will be available for PC and Xbox Series X|S on September 6, 2023.