Starfield, one of the most anticipated games of this decade is just around the horizon and it’s high time for everyone to hop on the hype train and fancy their chances to get their hands on the magical universe that Bethesda has created. It is officially set to launch on Xbox and PC, while being a day-one exclusive to Game Pass on the 6th of September, 2023. The early access to the game goes live on the 1st of September, 2023. Therefore, it’s natural to have a curiosity in every mobile gamer’s mind as well about whether they’d be able to get their hands on this magical universe or if Starfield will ever arrive on mobile platforms, and that’s precisely what we’re going to discuss in this article.
Starfield: Overview for newbies
While there’s a very low chance that you’ve never heard of Starfield if you somehow missed it here’s a brief look at the game itself. Starfield is an upcoming game from Bethesda, frequently crowned as the creator of one of the best games and rich worlds in the history of gaming. It’s no surprise that their first single-player narrative-focused game in almost a decade would garner as much hype as it has already.
The game takes place in space, where the player is an explorer as far as shown by Bethesda. He eventually joins a group of space troops to uncover the origin behind a mysterious artifact. While not much has been revealed about the narrative, what we know, the gameplay looks stunning. According to Starfield Direct, the universe will have a whopping 1000 planets to explore with a few of them having handcrafted gargantuan cities, complex politics and factions, and the other majority platens.
These would be procedurally generated with a few handcrafted points of interest thrown in randomly. All in all, it is hailed as the most ambitious project from Bethesda, and considering what Bethesda has done so far, that statement alone speaks volumes about the importance of Starfield in gaming.
Previous mobile ports from Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda are phenomenal developers for their mammoth creations in the gaming scene. However, they also have some fairly enormous titles under their belt as a publisher. Bethesda publishes gems like Doom(2016), Doom Eternal, Dishonored series, Evil Within, and Wolfestine series.
Bethesda has previously ported or rather made some mobile versions of their published titles such as Mighty Doom, Fallout Shelter, and The Elder Scrolls: Blades. While they aren’t anywhere near their console/PC counterparts, they have somewhat tried to bring in the same charm and atmosphere to these games.
Reasons why Starfield Mobile development is a far-fetched dream
1. Mismatch in quality between mobile and console games
While this point might be disappointing to some, but a viable argument nonetheless. Currently, mobile games haven’t evolved to a stage where console games could be replicated or ported here. To make a mobile game from a high-budget ARPG like Starfield, it would take a herculean effort from Bethesda, as they’d have to make the game from the ground up.
As apparent in all the aforementioned mobile games, the quality of gameplay and visuals are completely different in a negative way than the originals. This is due to the current mobile gaming landscape and the fact that the majority of the games have to be free. At the time of writing, Starfield on consoles seems to be hovering around 125 GB, and porting this massive game over to mobile doesn’t seem viable or possible, by any stretch of the imagination thus far.
2. Hardware limitations can be a roadblock
It’s probably common knowledge but mobile devices, even the most expensive ones aren’t even close to the latest hardware. To remain in such a short form factor is definitely alright as a bulky piece of hardware can’t be considered “mobile”. Starfield contains 1000 planets with some handcrafted ones and even littered with side quests and stories and it’d be very naive to imagine that sort of vastness on mobile.
While mobile games aren’t only limited by graphics and such limitations also come in the form of storage, it is a point that this game is almost 125 GB pre-launch, which is nowadays, considered the standard size for AAA games. However, mobile games which usually go over 1 GB and upwards, is often said to be very bulky game. Therefore, mobile hardware is almost incapable of running a game of such caliber as of now.
Recent initiatives from publishers
Publishers are pushing the pursuit of the mobile gaming industry more and more, as we see plans from Ubisoft for AC and Rainbow Six on mobile, as well as Activision Blizzard pushing for COD Warzone on mobile. All of the aforementioned examples lead towards some form of Starfield being shrunk into a simplistic and addictive or probably cooperative mobile game. Although, it wouldn’t be a proper version of Starfield.
Starfield on mobile may be possible in the future
Till now, we have only discussed why Starfield cannot be crammed into your mobile devices in its original form with all dignity intact. However, there is definitely a chance for it to make it into mobile devices in the future as nobody thought games like GTA VC or San Andres could be playable on mobile, at the time of release. But, it is a reality now. Although Microsoft’s exclusivity over the app can be a hurdle, eventually things could turn out this way anyhow. However, this might take much longer than you can hold your breath to play Starfield on your mobile.
However, there might just be a way that with proper equipment and steps, players could actually play.
How to play Starfield on mobile
The answer to the ever-impossible question lies in the wonderful technology of cloud gaming. It is quite clearly apparent that we’re talking about Xcloud. By using Xcloud, players can jump over the hurdle of hardware limitations of their mobile devices by overcompensating with their internet connection, as a very stable and constant internet connection is required to play such games on mobile. Even an old or low-spec device can run massive games without issues.
As Starfield is primarily a single-player narrative-driven ARPG, it doesn’t require knee-jerk reactions. Slight input delays, due to connection, won’t be an issue for most of the players, as well as, the resolution will look even more crisp on smaller screens. Here’s a detailed guide on how to use Xcloud services properly.
How excited are you to play games on Android with xCloud? Let us know in the comment section below!
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