Starfield will let you become a faction’s “double agent” but there’s a catch

Bethesda’s newest RPG Starfield is almost here and in the lead-up to the game’s launch, the devs have revealed some new details about their anticipated title including a “double agent” option.

Like many RPGs, Starfield gives players the option to join factions and complete storylines involving them. However, something unique that you can do is betray your allies.

How you want to play the game is, in large part, up to the player and the character they’ve created. As such, there are an assortment of options and when you add factions on top of this, it gets even wilder.

During a Discord Q&A, Starfield’s Lead Quest Designer Will Shen and Design Director Emil Pagliarulo confirmed it was possible to be a double agent and betray one faction for another, but it comes with a bit of a caveat.

Starfield devs explain how “double agent” feature actually works

When asked if it was possible to, for example, join the United Colonies and Crimson Fleet factions and give information to one group, the devs revealed this actually plays out in-game.

“Ha! That is exactly what you can do – infiltrate the Crimson Fleet for UC SysDef! It’s specific to that questline,” Pagliarulo explained.

He continued, “In the studio, I have been (half-jokingly) accused of referencing movies that some folks have never seen, because I’m old. So with this particular plotline, the inspiration was very much the movie Donnie Brasco, which is the true story of an FBI agent who infiltrates the mafia.”

Will Shen provided additional info, confirming that while this “double agent” option is in the game, it seems to only be for a storyline.

“All of the playable factions can be completed independently,” he said. “The Crimson Fleet storyline does feature you being an undercover agent inside the Fleet on behalf of UC SysDef, but whether you betray the Fleet or UC SysDef is a choice you will get to make.”

Players can make this choice and many, many more when Starfield arrives on September 6, 2023.