Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Starfield’s file size is massive no matter what platform you’re playing on

The file sizes for Starfield finally appeared across some of the storefronts it’s available on now that it’s available to preload. As a result, we’ve learned just how massive the game is.

On Steam, Bethesda recommends that players have 125 GB of space for the game, but Microsoft’s own launcher shows an even bigger PC install size of 139.84 GB for Starfield. That size is only slightly smaller on the console, with the Xbox Store showing me that the game will take up 117.07 GB on my Xbox Series X. It’s now very understandable why Microsoft is launching a 1 TB version of the Xbox Series S around Starfield; still, the game will even take over a tenth of that system’s memory if players aren’t expanding it at all. 

This 110+ GB file size across all platforms for Starfield demonstrates just how big Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi RPG will be. It also follows a recent trend of even single-player taking up gigantic chunks of your game system’s memory. This year alone, we’ve seen Star Wars Jedi: Survivor take up over 130 GB of space on consoles, while Baldur’s Gate 3 clocks in at 125.14 GB currently. As games get bigger with more detail, it’s clear that our gaming platforms will be able to accommodate fewer and fewer games on their SSDs going forward. 

At least you can play the game via Xbox Cloud Gaming if none of your platforms can accommodate that file size. Starfield will be released for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6. Those who pre-order the Premium Edition will get access on September 1, though.  

Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
The best co-op games on Xbox Series X
Jack Sparrow and pirate from Sea of Thieves.

The Xbox Series X is home to superb games we'll no doubt be talking about for years to come. The system features RPGs, shooters, puzzle games, survival games, and even competitive experiences that throw you against other players to be the last person standing. Better yet are the games you can enjoy with friends, either from the couch or online. Something about working together with a friend to defeat bosses or tackle objectives is widely appealing, making it easy to see why co-op games are so popular. The lineup of co-op games is constantly growing on Xbox Series X, but there are several you absolutely need to play.

These are the best co-op games on Xbox Series X.

Read more
Our favorite Xbox Series X games of 2023: Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, and more
A character from Starfield stands in front of text that Best Xbox Games 2023.

This was a year of low lows and high highs for Xbox.

On one hand, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition faced a whole lot of scrutiny and Bethesda's Redfall was a bust. On the other, Xbox Game Studios finally started to release first-party games more consistently in 2023, some long-awaited games finally released, and the Activision Blizzard deal eventually went through. Microsoft now looks to keep that momentum going into 2024 as it integrates the Call of Duty publisher into its organization and tries to keep up the first-party consistency with games like Senua's Saga: Hellblade II and Avowed.

Read more
Starfield ends 2023 as a commercial success and a marketing hype disaster
Key art for Starfield

Starfield fans are “gaming’s smartest fans" -- or so Bethesda’s Todd Howard said in the spacefaring RPG’s bustling subreddit. It's a bit of warm flattery fused with careful marketing hype, all wrapped in a feel-good message. Still, I appreciated it nonetheless as one of the first few eager Starfield players bursting through the doors of the game’s iconic Frontier starship in late August. But like many others, I only needed to dig slightly past the veneer of new-Bethesda-game excitement to realize Starfield’s release was underwhelmingly normal in a year of unexpected top-tier releases like Cocoon, Humanity, and yes, Baldur’s Gate 3.

Don’t get me wrong. Starfield ends 2023 as a massive commercial success, topping the Steam charts in September and pushing Xbox back onto the map after a relatively disastrous year. It did exactly what Microsoft needed it to do, and yet, between the mind-numbing repetitiveness of its rather empty universe and Bethesda’s recent trend of clapping back against negative Steam reviews, I’m starting to feel a little less “smart" the older it gets.
Building expectations
Remember when Bethesda was busy calling Starfield “one of the most important RPGs ever made” back at Summer Games Fest in June, and that a not insignificant portion of its fan base simply ate up the hype at face value? Ever the optimist, I was also reasonably stoked about Starfield at that point, so it was a personal shock when the middling reviews came out later across the board, including our own three-and-a-half star score. The response thoroughly shook up the expectations fans had built up over the summer.

Read more