Starfield has arrived on PS5 and, in true Bethesda fashion, has brought all of its bugs and glitches with it. Despite having several years to prepare and multiple updates on PC and Xbox to both improve the game and prepare it for porting, Bethesda has, once again, shipped a broken mess of a game instead of what very much should have been a clean experience by now.

As reported by Eurogamer.net, players that bought Starfield upon its launch are now seeking refunds from Sony, complaining of game-breaking bugs affecting things like progression, exploration and one that even makes saving impossible. The experience has reportedly even worse on the base model PS5, with many players reporting constant crashes and even the inability to start the game at all.

Playing on the PS5 Pro model doesn’t seem to help either, with players complaining about trying to uninstall/reinstall the game or disabling autosave entirely in order to resolve the glitches and loading issues, but even that hasn’t been entirely effective for some. Bethesda did issue a patch on launch day, but that apparently didn’t have any effect since these issues are still persisting. Starfield’s quality as a game aside, it really is too bad that those who want to play it still can’t do so.

This reminds me of the disastrous launch that Skyrim had on the PS3 way back when. If memory serves, the game could at least be played, but still suffered from all manner of issues, including texture problems, AI issues, quest issues, saving issues, and yes, crashing too. Bethesda eventually got it working, but the damage was already done. Skyrim wouldn’t take off again on PlayStation until it got re-released (for the 1st time) on the PS4. You might say, “so far, so Bethesda” but there are some important differences here.

First, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Skyrim launched at almost the same time, not three years later as in Starfield’s case. There wasn’t nearly as much time to bug test specifically for PS3. Its state was still inexcusable, but still. Second, the PS3 was notoriously difficult to develop for thanks to its unique Cell Processor structure, making its bugs more understandable than those on the much more standardized PS5. There really is no excuse for Starfield being as broken as it is, even considering Bethesda’s past.

People are quick to say that it’s the customer’s fault for continuing to buy from companies like Bethesda, and I’d say there is a point to be made there considering the company’s poor track record in the 15 years since Skyrim launched. However, it’s not just the customer’s willingness to buy that’s the problem. I mean, even if someone is willing to buy a piece of junk from you, does that truly give you the guilt-free right to sell it to them? Should it not be your desire to sell the best version of something that you can as opposed to something that’s barely functional or useful?

Certainly, Bethesda and every other giant game company is interested in delivering only the barest minimum that players are willing to shell out their cash for. They are in the business of generating as much profit as humanly possible after all (line must go up!), but that mentality in itself is the bigger issue, I think. There’s no pride in these games anymore, no craft. They’re just hollow imitations of what they used to be, made cynically with as many corners cut as possible. The result? Well, it’s something like Starfield. It’s a game that should be so much more than it is, yet is barely even functional.

Absolutely players should be voting with their wallets and refusing to buy these kinds of barely playable games, but frankly it shouldn’t have to go that far in the first place. Here in 2026, instead of enjoying the greatest period in gaming ever, we instead find ourselves in a financial war against game companies where your every buying decision is viewed, whether you like it or not, as either an endorsement or a criticism of a game and its developer’s practices. 

It’s an utterly miserable dynamic and is incredibly exhausting. I dunno about you all, but I just wanna be able to play games like I used to.

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What’s your take on all this? How much of this situation is the players’ fault and how much is the industry’s?

Image from the Starfield Xbox Store page.