If you're a gamer with a pulse, you may have noticed that a few new titles were announced at this year's Summer Game Fest. Of course, if you're a Bethesda Softworks stalwart who'd hoped the event would yield fresh intel on the game maker's next Fallout and Elder Scrolls entries, then, well, you may have been more disappointed than delighted by its many reveals.

While both Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online shared peeks of future updates – and a Doom: The Dark Ages expansion was announced – details on the studio's most anticipated, long-awaited games were sadly a no-show. All that said, one of Bethesda's biggest, most ambitious efforts has recently been released on PlayStation platforms.

Arriving two-plus years after its exclusive launch on PC and Xbox Series X and Series S, sprawling sci-fi role-playing game Starfield has finally landed on Sony's systems…but with little fanfare. That's a bit surprising, as the 2023 role-playing game (RPG) is not only one of Bethesda's best original efforts in recent years, but one that has reserved its most polished, content-packed version for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro owners.

A Bethesda RPG, evolved

If you're a new Constellation recruit, let's catch you up real quick. Starfield is a big, ambitious Bethesda RPG not unlike the studio's other staple series within the genre. While it's not exactly The Elder Scrolls in space, its systems-fueled gameplay, expansive open-world, and author-your-own-adventure formula will feel comfortably familiar to anyone who's sunk hours into the fantasy RPG series or the Fallout franchise.

Starfield essentially refines, polishes, and expands on those games' enduring formulas…then recruits you as a starship captain and hurtles you into the scary expanse of the cosmic frontier. As you might expect, there's plenty of enemies to eviscerate, massive progression paths to evolve, resources to gather, items to craft, factions to tangle with, mysteries to uncover, and so much more.

But as a galaxy-exploring, planet-hopping sci-fi RPG, you can also count on deep starship customization, crew member recruitment, dogfights among the stars, and ugly extraterrestrials looking to turn you to pulp. Starfield allows you to dig deep into all of these elements while also steering and shaping your journey, molding it to your playstyle and preference at every turn.

While you're certainly welcome to stick to the critical path and closely adhere to the game's narrative, it's at its best when you're fulfilling your own sci-fi fantasies – whether that's becoming a pistol-packing bounty hunter, peace-keeping diplomat, or just some dude who really digs collecting and customizing a fleet of cool starships.

A galaxy of updates and improvements

Despite giving players the keys to a lightspeed-capable craft and encouraging them to author their own sci-fi epic, Starfield wasn't without its share of flaws when it was originally released. From empty-feeling planets and a confusing economy to clunky combat, sometimes sluggish travel, and an overall lack of charm and personality, it left some players as cold as deep space.

But like any ambitious AAA game with two-plus years' worth of updates, patches, and expansions in its rearview, Starfield has benefited from a spaceport full of improvements and polish since releasing in the summer of 2023. On top of countless quality-of-life tweaks, it's also seen several significant updates, like the awesome planet-roving REV-8 vehicle that makes exploring even the most boring expanses a rubber-burning blast.

But Starfield's biggest update by far has nicely coincided with the game's PS5 release, leading to what Bethesda producer Tim Lamb called its "best version" in a recent interview with TechRadar. The substantial offering introduces a ton more tweaks, improvements, and even fresh content, from a powerful new resource that deepens customization to an adorable alien pet companion you can adopt.

The update's biggest game-changers, however, are its "Free Lanes" and "Cruise Mode" additions, which blow some of Starfield's more tedious elements out an airlock. Combined, these enhancements introduce seamless, smoother, and more satisfying space travel, allowing for easier planet-to-planet navigation, as well as the ability to manage many of the game's complex systems while casually cruising through the stars.

While this latest update will likely feel long overdue for existing fans, it's just an organic, out-of-the-box part of the experience for those earning their captain stripes in the PS5 version. Those same new recruits are also treated to the game's story-based expansions, Shattered Space and the more recent Terran Armada, which add hours of content and are included in the premium edition's $70 price.

Boldly going where previous versions have not

In addition to all previous patches and enhancements – as well as the new update – PS5 players are treated to some Sony platform-specific features when they strap into the cockpit. Starfield doesn't skimp on the extras that smartly leverage the consoles' unique elements and – in the PlayStation 5 Pro's case – considerable horsepower.

PS5 players can choose between a graphics-favoring Visual mode and a frame-rate-focused Performance option. The former delivers 4K resolution – with PSSR upscaling doing some of the heavy lifting – at 30fps, while the latter ups the frames to 60-per-second at the cost of dropping the resolution to 1080p. The Pro also gets its own Enhanced mode, which further optimizes specific visual features, like foliage and draw distances, at 30fps.

I primarily played on the Pro, and found the Visual mode to offer the best overall experience, delivering fantastic fidelity and a peppy framerate that never felt compromised. I also found that the Pro's performance mode actually offered a slight visual bump over the base PS5's graphics mode. All that said, the game ran smoothly and looked great on the standard system.

More impressive is what the game accomplishes with the DualSense across all PS5 platforms. While plenty of ports take advantage of the controller's adaptive trigger and haptic feedback tech, Starfield goes above and beyond, fully integrating these features, but also leveraging the peripheral's light bar and built-in speaker to significantly up the immersion. The game ultimately serves as a great showcase of what the controller's unique features can bring to an interactive entertainment experience when fully utilized.

Much like Bethesda Softworks' PS5 port of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the studio's latest looks and plays better than ever on Sony's systems. But Starfield's PlayStation debut actually shares more with Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, which arrived on PS5 consoles not only with the usual graphical and performance bumps, but also with a host of welcome updates and new content that made it the definitive version of the game.

Thanks to two-plus years of tweaks and enhancements – as well as a recent, significant update adding even more polish, improvements, and content – that's exactly what fans are getting with Starfield's latest release, a definitive experience that makes an already fantastic game out of this world.

Should I play Starfield on PS5?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility

Starfield's accessibility features feel pretty bare bones, offering some standard options for adjusting audio settings, as well as different selections for subtitles, captions, and fonts.

There's plenty in the way of controller mapping options, but little depth in other areas. And some features that have become fairly standard, like color filter modes and other assists for visually-impaired players, are notably absent here.

How I reviewed Starfield on PS5

I spent 30-plus hours exploring, battling, and adventuring through Starfield's Settled Systems. During my time on planet surfaces and among the stars, I focused on the many updates the game has received since its launch, from its dozens of quality-of-life tweaks to its more significant inclusions and enhancements.

I also tested the various quality and performance modes on both my PS5 and PS5 Pro. Finally, I paid particular attention to how the game looked and played today – on Sony's consoles – versus how it felt when I first experienced it on my Xbox Series X. I played on my TCL 4K TV, with HDR enabled, using Sony's PlayStation Pulse Elite headset for audio.

First reviewed June 2026

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