It’s almost time to take courtship across the solar system. Starfield’s director Todd Howard has detailed how Starfield romance components will work in the upcoming space RPG. When it comes to romance, we’re talking about the ability to establish romantic relationships with NPCs in the game
So, when you’re not too busy swashbuckling as a space pirate, or grav-jumping to over 1,000 Starfield planets, there’s time for a bit of amorosity. Of course, Bethesda’s previous titles like Skyrim have the amulet marriages and Fallout 4 explored deeper, XP-boosting relationship perks. But, when it comes to Starfield, romance looks set to be a concept that is “more complex” than ever before with the studio taking it a lot more seriously. Let’s jump into what we know so far. We also know the highly-anticipated Starfield Direct finally arrives on June 11, so we’ll be sure to update our guide to suit when that airs.
Starfield romance
Starfield has multiple romance options across the campaign that are considerably deeper than any romance options in a Bethesda Games Studios game before.
In an interview with Todd Howard on the Lex Fridman podcast, Howard confirmed the feature stating “we have a number of companions, but for them we… [have] more complex relationships than we’ve had” in terms of them just stating they like you and love you.
He goes on to say that “they can be in love with you and dislike something you did and be pissed at you temporarily, but then come back to loving you.” So, we’re talking more impactful romance arcs than ever before in a Bethesda game. And, according to Todd, there are going to be a few specific companions that players will be able to experience this more complex relationship system with. We know of only one of the Starfield companions so far, VASCO, Constellation’s own robot.
Design director, Emil Pagliarulo, also mentioned during Bethesda’s dev series in 2022, Into the Starfield, that the game would have “romance, adventure, mystery”, so it’s seemingly been an important part of Starfield’s architecture for a long time.
Whilst the presence of romance in Starfield has been confirmed by Todd Howard, how exactly it will work in-game is currently unclear currently. But, these companions will respond in a more complex manner rather than it being straightforward or unchangeable.
In addition to Todd’s confirmation during his podcast appearance, he also added why he feels it’s important to have romance be an integral part of the game, “My point is, I think those things where you meet a character in a game and you do spend time with them, a companion in a game, and it leads to romance, myself and others, and I find a lot of players, those moments are really, really impactful and special to them because they did put in the time.”
As Todd explores, relationships, much like real-life, are not straightforward, “In our previous stuff, you just work your way up. They like you more and more and more and more and now you’re in a relationship and when you make them upset, you drift out of it like it never happened. You drift out of it. Whereas we wanted one where, okay, we can be in a relationship. We’ve committed to each other in some way. But I just did something that really made them angry and as opposed to just drifting out of that status, you’re in a temporary I don’t like what you did state.”
The ultimate goal, as far as Todd suggests, boils down to forming relationships – romantic or platonic – that you build and maintain with the normal ups and downs mimicking real life. And, over time, relationships players will form attachments to.
“Whenever I’m playing a game and there’s a friendship option, make friends or a romance thing, I find those moments really… I enjoy them. I find them pretty impactful emotionally to what we’re doing and so, we’ve done a little bit of it. It’s one of the things that we actually have pushed in Starfield.”
During the June 2023 Starfield Direct, a passing reference to romance was made at around the 23:30 mark. You can check it out below.
Will there be sex in Starfield?
It was revealed earlier this year that, due to the “Restricted 18+” age rating from the Australian Government, players won’t be seeing any sex in the game. There will be some nudity though, with “very mild impact”.
The ESRB’s rating also revealed some slightly oo-er dialogue that features in Starfield after sharing a bed with characters, giving it a “Mature 17+” rating. These included, “Life is a sexually transmitted disease that’s a hundred percent fatal”; “I’m all for getting a little wild, but next time let’s try it without the jetpacks”; and “Talk about seeing stars, whew… that was amazing.” Love and romance aren’t just about a bit of space raunchiness though.
So, there we have it, that’s everything we know so far about Starfield romance. You can already find out the various Starfield characters you’ll be able to meet during your adventure if you want to find someone to join you. Whilst we await the game’s arrival in September, be sure to check out our other Starfield content to prepare yourself including how to play Starfield on Xbox One, and everything we know right now ahead of the Starfield release date on Xbox and PC.
