What happened to Earth in Starfield?

By Jesse Lennox September 13, 2023

Unlike The Elder Scrolls series, which takes place in a completely fictional setting, Starfield takes place in an alternate future of the world we currently live in. Set a bit over 300 years in the future, humanity has not only traveled the stars, but settled down on multiple planets across the galaxy. Cities like New Atlantis in particular have essentially become the new home world for humans, which raises the obvious question of what became of Earth? You’ll get some clues very early on that our beloved home planet is no longer habitable like it was, but what caused this? The answers are there in Starfield, so let’s go over exactly what happened to Earth.

Why is Earth uninhabitable in Starfield?

A museum poster about earth in Starfield. — Bethesda softworks

The entire population of Earth was forced to abandon its home planet in the mid-2100s after Grav Drive technology was discovered. Dr. Victor Aiza was the one to make this initial discovery that propelled our species into space to begin colonizing other planets. This came at a cost, however, as by 2150, Earth’s government realized that the planet’s magnetosphere would collapse in just 50 years as a result of this testing. The planet would become completely uninhabitable, which forced a complete exodus from the planet during those 50 years. By 2203, Earth was reduced to a barren wasteland.

You’re able to visit Earth in Starfield, and will be required to do so during the story, but not much is left for you to discover except for a few key landmarks.

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Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…

Gaming

The best ship weapons and parts in Starfield

A ship lands on a planet in Starfield.

If there's one thing every space game needs, it's cool ships. Starfield's main new feature compared to the studio's prior work is focused on letting you feel like a true captain of a ship by allowing you to build, buy, and completely customize your very own ship. While you could get through the game only doing the bare essentials for your ship, treating it more like a glorified fast travel system, there's an entire game's worth of mechanics waiting to be played with when it comes to building and piloting your ship. Because it is so deep, and there are so many weapons and parts to consider for different purposes, it can start to feel like rocket science. To simplify the process, here are the best ship weapons and parts to get in Starfield.
Best ship weapons

Ship weapons in Starfield come in four types: ballistic, lasers, missiles, and particle weapons. Each one is better-suited to damaging either shields or hulls, with positives and negatives associated with each. However, a few stand out as simply better than the rest.
Atlatl 280C missile launcher
This missile launcher is perhaps the best ship weapon in the game, bar none. Each missile has a range of 4,000, deals 264 damage to both hull and shields, and boasts a max power of 4. The two downsides are that it has a fire rate of 1, plus, as a missile launcher, you have to first get a target lock before firing to avoid missing.
Torch-P 250MW UV Pulse Laser
As a secondary pick, the Torch-P is designed to absolutely shred enemy shields. Hull damage is a measly 8, but that's where your missiles or ballistic weapons come in. While dealing 25 shield damage at a fire rate of 5, you'll watch that shield bar melt as long as you can sustain a constant stream of hits for a few seconds.
Turrets
No turret is going to be as good as a traditional weapon in terms of stats, but simply having them fire themselves is enough to make them essential for any ship. There are dozens of them to pick from, so choose one that best suits your current weapon loadout. For example, if you have a build that has great hull damage, go for a turret like the Scorch-S 80MW Pulse Laser Turret that focuses on shield damage.
Best ship parts

Gaming

Will Starfield come to PS5?

Spaceship on planet in Starfield.

The long-anticipated Bethesda RPG Starfield has finally been released and the reviews from players are looking great so far. Featuring the publisher's first new world in 25 years, Starfield is centered around endless space exploration — quite a different direction than Fallout's postapocalyptic America or The Elder Scroll's fantasy landscapes. While the game doesn't necessarily allow you to get lost in space like most players initially were looking forward to, it does contain plenty of excellent sci-fi standbys like multiverse theories, a vast pool of spaceships to pilot through galaxies, and some far-out futuristic weaponry.

Starfield launched on the Xbox Series X and PC (and Xbox One, sort of), but hasn't made its way to the PlayStation 5. While there are plenty of great games on PS5, some Sony gamers are still eagerly waiting for their chance to jump into the world of Starfield.
Will Starfield come to PS5?

Gaming

Should you choose Aceles or Microbe in Starfield?

Key art for Starfield

Starfield has perhaps Bethesda's best main narrative yet, however, most people will still prefer to spend most of their playtime going through the various faction questlines. Among all the different groups out there that your character can join, one of the earliest and most appealing is the UC Vanguard. During one of these faction quests called "A Legacy Forged," you will have a critical decision to make regarding the use of either Aceles or Microbes to stop the deadly Terromorph threat. The consequences of which one you pick won't be made clear until after you commit, so here are the repercussions of each decision in Starfield.
Should you choose Aceles or Microbe?

The Terromorphs are a created species designed to completely destroy whatever environment they encounter and must not be allowed to propagate. To contain this threat, Abello from the UC Council presents you with two options to destroy the Terromorphs: Aceles and Microbes.