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Are you wondering what happened to Earth in Starfield? For many of us, one of the first things we did when we got our hands on a ship in Starfield was head to the Sol system see what had become of our home world, only to find it a little emptier than we’re used to, especially compared with the thriving New Atlantis on Jemison. And with seemingly nothing there to see, there are more questions than answers when it comes to finding out Earth’s fate in the Starfield universe.
Be sure to check out our Starfield tips and tricks for some great advice to help you in your playthrough. And if you’re in need of better gear, our Starfield best weapons and Starfield best armor guides have the perfect options to improve your arsenal. With that, let’s take a look at Earth in Starfield and how it turned into a completely lifeless planet.
How did Earth get like that in Starfield?
Spoiler warning: What happened to Earth is explained during the later quests in the main story, so stop reading if you want to avoid any spoilers.
The story of what happened to Earth in Starfield and humanity’s movement across the Settled Systems are pretty intertwined. During the mid-2100s, a few centuries before the events of Starfield, a NASA project taking place on Earth’s moon was testing early versions of the grav drives seen in Starfield. However, a consequence of these grav drive tests is that Earth’s magnetosphere was irreversibly damaged, causing Earth’s atmosphere to dissapate and exposing it to deadly solar radiation. In response, scientists decided that the promise of exploring the universe was more important than the fate of the Earth, and so the planet was sacrificed and turned into little more than a dust ball.
Following these tests, Earth had around 50 years left before the planet became uninhabitable, forcing governments to evacuate the entire population to other planets in what would become the Settled Systems. By the year 2203, Earth had become the barren planet we see in Starfield now.
What is on Earth in Starfield?
With the planet completely desolate, there isn’t much left beyond a few Earth landmarks dotted around where you can find collectible snow globes. Iconic landmarks like London’s Shard, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and New York’s Empire State Building can be found after locating certain related books on your travels. Check out our Starfield Earth landmarks guide to find out how to get each one.
If you’re after resources, then Earth is a mixed bag. Earth plays host to no flora or fauna at all, but does have some inorganic resources available. Water, chlorine, lead, mercury, and chlorosilane can all be found on Earth if you look for it.
That’s everything you need to know about what happened to Earth in Starfield. If you’re heading out for some more space exploration, you’ll need a great ship, so check out our ship manufacturers, best ships, best ship parts, best reactors and starship weapons guides. For some quests to do, the Sabotage, Delivering Devils, Surgical Strike, Operation Starseed, Absolute Power and Alternating Currents quests are all great options. And for some crafting materials, our how to get adhesive, lubricant, adaptive frames, high tensile spidroin and microsecond regulators guides have you covered.
