Starfield vs Star Citizen – 5 key differences

Starfield v Star Citizen might be a matchup you’ll have seen going around the internet recently, and with good reason. Bethesda Studios new space-faring RPG might be massive, and ambitious, but it isn’t the only game of its type on the block. With a long history, reputation, and a development cost that would make even Bethesda themselves weak in the knees, some see Star Citizen as a real competitor for Todd Howard’s story-driven space juggernaut.

But are the two games really so similar? Here, we’re going to cover the Starfield versus Star Citizen debate, and outline five key differences to keep in mind when comparing the two space adventure giants. Both offer a vast universe, massive game world and space exploration but go about the gameplay in very different ways. They both use a different game engine, leading to startlingly different aesthetics. While Star Citizen opts for sheer realism, Starfield has a slightly more comic look – although the character models, from what we’ve seen in the footage are still rather lifelike.

If you’re on Team Starfield though, why not have a look at our breakdown of what to expect from the Starfield opening, or a full list of all the Starfield trailers we’ve seen to date. Let’s kick off and look at the key differences.

Key differences between Starfield and Star Citizen

Here are our picks for the top 5 differences between Starfield and Star Citizen.

1. Singleplayer v multiplayer
2. Story v sandbox
3. Map and world designs
4. NPCs
5. Release models

Let’s explore each of these in a little more detail.

5. Singleplayer versus multiplayer

One of the largest differences at a glance is how the two games approach multiplayer. We’ve broken down Starfield multiplayer before and its potential, but as far as launch goes, the game is going to be a purely single-player experience.

Conversely, Star Citizen puts a big emphasis on multiplayer as a core feature. The game is aiming for a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) model, with lots of players in a shared space, working together to create societies and interact in the game’s currently available game modes.

4. Story v sandbox

Starfield aims to establish a single, unified world in which the game takes place. Like Fallout and Elder Scrolls titles before it, this RPG is all about story, with a massive variety of Starfield missions, quests and side quests available alongside the main Starfield story.

In contrast, Star Citizen isn’t quite as linear. Although it’s limited at the moment through the several different modules you can play, the aim for Star Citizen is absolute player freedom. This will eventually, according to the devs, result in a massive open world that acts something akin to a sandbox. There will be plenty of established and interactable elements, but them main draw of the game will be player-led communities, and the stories that individuals create for themselves.

3. Map and world designs

The way both games handle their worlds is slightly different. They’re both based in space of course, but tackle locations in diverging ways.

Starfield has a focus on scale, with over 1000 Starfield planets, and an estimated 100 Starfield systems, there’s a lot to explore. Much of this is driven by procedural generation, which utilises large archives of assets to randomly generate most terrain and worldbuilding. Within these worlds, certain parameters are set to include a minimum series of points of interest, including structures, NPCs and recurring repeatable missions. This all runs in conjunction with the handful of specially hand-crafted planets that boast more important locations.

Star Citizen isn’t as far along with its world design, but its main multiplayer module Persistent Universe has a number of locations to explore. Currently this includes:

• 4 planets
• 9 moons
• 1 gas giant
• 1 planetary body

All of these locations make use of procedural generation, with different biomes and areas of interest keeping them somewhat distinct. There’s a greater use of procedural generation in this way, and more of a focus on the scale of individual planets, with each one being far larger than what we’re expecting to see in Starfield. This does lead to lower quality of some areas, as there is a smaller hand in direct design, but it also allows for more player exploration.

2. NPCs

NPCs represent a major point of divergence for the two franchises, because of their differing approaches to storytelling.

With Starfield being an RPG, it should come as little surprise that the Settled Systems are well populated. Todd Howard remarked of development some months back that there were “well over 200,000 lines of dialouge” recorded for Starfield NPCs. From simple merchants to Starfield companions and Starfield crew members, you’ll meet a huge variety of interactable faces across the galaxy, with dynamic personalities.

This is an area that Star Citizen has placed a smaller focus on. With player-driven situations being the prime focus, NPCs act more as background elements, bringing flavour and life to cities, space stations and ports. At the moment, vendor NPCs are the most prevalent, standing by their markets, stalls and shops to buy and sell goods to players.

1. Release models

This might be the one that came to everyone’s mind immediately.

Starfield is currently set to release on September 6, with the Starfield early access earlier than that. There’s been speculation for Starfield DLC, but we don’t have much information for what to expect from that yet. Regardless, the full game will be available on launch.

Star Citizen however has become somewhat infamous for its numerous delays and development problems. Primarily crowdfunded to the eye-watering tune of an estimated $500 million, the game has yet to see a full release. Instead, it currently consists of various ‘modules’ – game modes that allow player access to different features. The biggest of these is Persistent Universe, which combines the other modes into a multiplayer setting for players to enjoy. As such, Star Citizen will likely follow a path of gradual releases and patches, each one building upon the initial foundations.

Which is best, Starfield or Star Citizen?

It’s not quite a fair question to say which game is the best experience for players. Starfield is obviously polished, and massive, but it’s had the advantage of a huge development team and standout industry experience. Star Citizen isn’t polished or complete by comparison, but it hasn’t yet got a full release. Regardless, the game has great potential, and could easily become a contender once it reaches its final form.

That covers everything we’ve got on Starfield v Star Citizen, and the largest differences between the two games. As Star Citizen has yet to fully release, a full comparison is difficult to make, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide which game will take your priority. If you’re looking for more Starfield content, have a look at our specs for the best Starfield gaming laptop and best Starfield gaming PC to help you decide if it’s time for an upgrade, or if your machine is ready and willing to play.

Are Starfield and Star Citizen the same game?

Starfield and Star Citizen have some key differences, as the former is a singleplayer RPG and the latter is a player-driven MMO.

Is Star Citizen a good alternative to Starfield?

Due to their similar settings and themes, as well as emphasis on player agency and similar basic mechanics, some players may find Star Citizen a good alternative to Starfield.