How realistic is Starfield? The European Space Agency (ESA) is now paying tribute to the sci-fi role-playing game
Bethesda’s new space role-playing game has not only piqued your interest, but also that of the European Space Agency. In a (interview) with the website Eurogamer, Emmet Fletcher, the head of branding and partnerships at the ESA, has now given unexpected praise.
ESA praises Starfield’s aesthetics
The developers of Starfield describe the look of the game as NASA punk
They use this term to describe a sci-fi universe that is a little more down to earth and more grounded in reality – similar to, say, the 1982 film Blade Runner.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is now applauding this design decision. According to Fletcher, the aesthetics of Starfield are intended to make the game more human, because they reflect many of the same things that work in real space travel.
As one example, the ESA employee cites the fact that things continue to be used no matter how old and worn out they are:
I think the reality is more in the NASA punk area where things are used and not necessarily super shiny. […] You know, your spanner is going to have scratches on it, and screwdrivers might have a bit of tape around them because you get a better grip that way, because people are practical. And that’s more of a human thing … and I like that kind of thing.
So realistic is Starfield’s future scenario
While Fletcher finds much to like about the game’s NASA-punk style, he finds the game’s fictional timeline a little too ambitious. We remember: in Starfield, humans land on Mars for the first time in the year 2050.
Fletcher does not believe that the first astronauts will be walking around on Mars as early as 27 years from now. His reasoning: In the 1960s, the race to land on the moon was a duel between the superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, with both parties investing huge amounts of their domestic product
Nowadays, the space industry is driven more by the commercial side
, while the scientific side in the form of NASA, ESA and co. hardly have enough budget to push all the planned research and space missions.
However, he does not want to call Starfield’s timeline completely unrealistic, because:
Progress is constantly being made and you never know where the next breakthrough will come.
