Starfield’s loading screens have become a notable issue for players navigating the game.
Surprisingly, these frequent pauses weren’t always part of the plan, as former developer Nate Purkeypile reveals on the VideoGamer Podcast. “Some of those [loading screens] were not there when I had been working on it, and so it was a surprise to me that there was as many as there were,” he shared.
Having spent 14 years at Bethesda, Purkeypile left in 2021, and he was taken aback by the sheer volume of loading zones in the game’s final release. The cyberpunk city Neon, in particular, had way more loading areas than he remembered, especially since the number was much smaller before the lighting engine was completed.
In his view, “It could have existed without those [loading screens].” He explained that in Neon, many screens are used to manage performance, while in New Atlantis, they help avoid a long wait during train rides.
Fans sometimes wonder if developers always get it right.
He pointed out that some problems are just part of the Creation Engine itself, which Bethesda chose to use despite some saying it’s old-fashioned and not perfect for such a massive game world.
