Starfield’s new lore timeline raises more questions about what happened to Earth
Bethesda SoftworksWe’re definitely heading to all 100+ planets in Starfield.
Bethesda has uploaded a lore timeline for Starfield, which conspicuously leaves out what happened to Earth in its new universe.
Bethesda Game Studios continues to trickle out information about its long-awaited RPG, Starfield. Thus far, the studio has unleashed details about the game’s many factions, cities, and customization options.
Every so often, fans receive a story-related tease or two, as well. However, what remains shrouded in mystery is what may have happened to Earth in Bethesda’s newest universe.
The latest bit of lore confirms when humanity’s space exploration began resulting in habitable settlements beyond the Earth’s surface. But some questions seem as if they won’t soon be answered.
Details about Earth absent from Starfield’s official story timeline
To the delight of prospective players, the bottom of Bethesda’s official Starfield page now features a “Story So Far…” section.
This addition to the site notably walks readers through an in-universe timeline spanning nearly 300 hundred years, from 2050 when humans land on Mars to 2328 when the Constellation organization invests in a deep space scanner, “The Eye.” (Apparently, “The Eye” is the giant satellite-like station seen in much of Starfield’s promo materials.)
According to the provided timeline, humans started living in space in 2100. And by 2156, humanity had ventured to the Alpha Centauri star system more than four light years away from Earth. Conspicuously, this marks the last mention of Earth in the timeline graphic.
Fans have picked up on as much, too, evidenced by a Reddit thread filled with talk about why Earth-related details are being kept under wraps.
Wrote one user in response to the above post, “The timeline is also leaving out Earth entirely. Feels like a heavily censored version to prevent spoilers.”
Of course, some people have thrown out a few theories regarding what those spoilers may entail. One Redditor argued the game’s warring factions would probably be far more interested in the Blue Planet if there was actually something worth controlling. “Seems like Earth became inhospitable,” they concluded.
This line of thinking also raises questions about whether or not Earth will count among Starfield’s thousands of explorable planets.
Players don’t have to wait too much longer to figure that out for themselves. Bethesda’s next big adventure hits PC and Xbox on September 6.