Starfield physical copies won't actually come with a disc, Bethesda says

Update: Bethesda has since clarified that physical standard copies of Starfield on Xbox Series X/S will come with a disc. It wrote: "Starfield Standard Edition is included with Xbox Game Pass. Game disc included with physical purchases of Xbox Standard Edition. Game code included with physical purchases on PC Standard edition."

Original article:

I don’t know about you, but I’ll always prefer owning physical copies of games to simply downloading them digitally. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia that’s always set off when I head home with a shiny new game in my bag, or maybe it’s the collector side of me that’s always satisfied when I put yet another game on my shelf.

There’s also the more serious game preservation side to it. In an age where more media is being distributed solely digitally, it’s a bit worrisome to imagine what happens when, inevitably, there’s no way to access or buy certain things anymore. Having a game on a physical disc or game cartridge (and keeping it safe, obviously) feels like the only surefire way to ensure that you can keep hold of it forever, but when that’s not an option, you can’t help but be concerned about what the future holds for it.

Take a look at the story trailer for Starfield below.

For all these reasons and more, gamers are currently up in arms over the fact that Bethesda’s upcoming space-exploration RPG, Starfield, could apparently be subject to that dark download-only fate.

This was first revealed in a since-deleted tweet from the official Bethesda Support account on Twitter. Responding to a fan’s question, it wrote: “All physical editions include a code for the chosen platform. There are no physical discs.”

Fans on Reddit aren’t happy at all: “If it got taken down there’s a possibility it’s a mistake. I pray this is a mistake,” FerroLux_ commented. “Damn if this is true, that sucks! Just killed the pre-owned market for the game,” wrote cmvora.

Thankfully though, there’s a chance that this is just a mixup. Earlier this month, the official Spanish Bethesda account responded to the same question, and instead wrote (translated by Google): “It depends on the edition. For example, the standard has a disc, while the Constellation Edition has a code engraved on a collector's item.”

Right now, these mixed messages are rather confusing - hopefully we’ll get some further clarity soon.