Starfield fans split on whether it receiving a Redfall-esque 30 FPS cap on console would be a dealbreaker

A spaceport and character in Starfield.
Credit: Bethesda.


A spaceport and character in Starfield.
Credit: Bethesda.

For those who’ve invested thousands of hours into the likes of Skyrim and Fallout 4, the release of Starfield, which is now pencilled in for September 6, can’t come soon enough.

Regardless of what you want to see from the next showcase of Bethesda's venture into space, how many interstellar mods you plan to install once it arrives or whether you think you’ll be playing as ‘The Novakiin’, the idea of being able to delve into a freshly curated game has RPG lovers of all stripes intrigued.

Recently though, a few of the fans who’ve spent the last few months speculating about the sex-free game have seemingly become worried that the console versions of it might come with a Redfall-esque 30 FPS cap at launch.

Would you be heartbroken if the console version of Starfield only ran at 30 FPS immediately following launch?

These frame rate-based fears form the subject of a recent thread on the Starfield subreddit, which began with a post from user WastelandGamesman, who kicked things off by asking: “How do we feel about the possibility of (only getting) 30 FPS on console?”

A bunch of their fellow would-be astronauts were quick to declare that they wouldn't be best pleased if this ended up being the case, with user goat_king_boss saying: “That would definitely be unacceptable. I'm on PC, so I would be fine, but if I was on console I'd rather (have) a delay than a 30 FPS (cap).”

Similarly, user coolkidsclub1898 argued: “(That idea) really doesn’t feel acceptable to me, and tbh, I might not bother playing it (if that was the case) until it (did) have an option for 60fps. I won’t be able to fully enjoy myself if I’m playing it at a choppy 30 frames.”

On the other hand, some spacers seemed relatively unperturbed by WastelandGamesman’s suggestion, with user Status_Lecture admitting: “I've been playing games on 30 FPS or less for more than 20 years now (and) I don't care much as long as it's (stable). 60 fps is great and all, but a solid 30 FPS in (a) game of this scale is alright to me.”

The thread on the Starfield subreddit.
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A few even went as far as indicating that they likely wouldn’t be bothered by the lower frame rate once they got immersed in the game, with user No-Vehicle6028 declaring: “(It wouldn’t be) ideal, but, as usual, I'll stop noticing it after 20 minutes.” and dawgtilidie adding: “If the story and gameplay are solid, (I don’t care) too much about FPS, give me something interesting and that can pull me back in, everything else is gravy.”

Regardless of where you stand on the great console FPS debate, make sure to follow us for lots of guides to Starfield’s world and mechanics.

You can also check out our latest mods of the month for some killer Skyrim and Fallout mods that’ll help tide you over until it arrives.

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