Is new game plus in Starfield? Bethesda is not known for including new game plus modes in their games – Fallout 3 and 4 didn’t feature one, and neither did Oblivion or Skyrim, but more games than ever are starting to incorporate new game plus as a way to increase replayability.
Not that you’ll necessarily need it here, as there are over 1000 Starfield planets in the space opera, and when it comes to the Starfield length, just the main story will apparently run for 30-40 hours. Chuck in all the side content and exploration you can do and you’re looking at hundreds of hours if you want to see anything – if, upon completion, you immediately want to start all over again with new game plus, then you are a more dedicated player than I. However, with that said, new game plus is definitely a mode that will pique my interest after a break, so here’s all the information we have on Starfield new game plus.
Starfield new game plus mode explained
Yes, in a Bethesda first, Starfield has a new game plus mode available upon completion of the main story. In a GQ interview, Todd Howard confirmed the existence of a new game plus mode for the first time. This was done with the context of adding a “unique and exciting twist on new game plus to incentivise continued and repeat play”.
Traditionally, this means that you can start the game all over again, keeping all of your Starfield skills and experience so you start the game with a much stronger character, essentially. Usually the game itself won’t be much different – enemies may be tougher, and there could be some unique rewards to find during a new game plus run, but the bulk of the game is still the same.
Now we don’t know exactly what this “unique” twist from the GQ interview will entail, as we are yet to finish the game ourselves, but there has been lots of speculation online. Time travel is a very common theory, as is the idea that the player gets sucked into a black hole and survives, keeping all of their Starfield guns and armor.
You may even get to keep your exploration progress too, such as the outposts and planets you’ve visited, and if time travel is involved, there may be some funky new dialogue and quest options that open up. If all of the quests do reset, then it will allow you to play through the game in an entirely different manner – Bethesda games usually have multiple ways of completing almost every quest in the game, so where you found a diplomatic, peaceful solution first time around, you could go in guns blazing the second time.
One particularly interesting theory on Reddit reckons the game will “snapshot your various save files and dynamically add colony layouts and ship designs” to the world as you explore all over again. It goes on to suggest you may even be able to find past versions of yourself, as random encounters or radiant quest-givers. It’s certainly far-fetched, but until we know all the details, every guess is certainly plausible. Perhaps you could recruit yourself to be a companion and join your crew on your adventures.
Whatever the outcome, that is everything we know about Starfield new game plus so far, and it won’t be long until we know a whole lot more to share with you. Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.