For a long time,Skyrimwas considered one of the largest universes made by Bethesda. However, with the release ofStarfield, that claim seems to be losing its plausibility, making players wonder if Bethesda’s new IP will indeed be larger thanThe Elder Scrolls 5.In this map comparison, open-world RPG fans will finallyfind out ifStarfieldis bigger thanSkyrimbased on the latest information about its map size.
Starfield and Skyrim Map Size Comparison
Given that it features 1,000 planets, with each havinga few square miles of explorable area,Starfieldis much larger thanSkyrim. The map of Bethesda’sSkyrimspans approximately 15 square miles, which is comparable to the expanse of just a single planet withinStarfield.
InSkyrim, it takes players approximately 3 hours to traverse the entire map on foot. Conversely, inStarfield, each terrain tile might require around 1 hour for players to cross.
Starfield’s Map Vs. Other Bethesda Games
With a map size of 62,394 square miles,The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfallused to bethe biggest Bethesda game, followed byFallout 3. However, pre-release estimations yield thatStarfieldmight have 1,000,000 square miles of traversable area.
Here’s a map comparison between Bethesda games to put that in perspective:
1,000,000 mi2 (estimated)
62,394 mi2
16 mi2
14.3 mi2
13.4 mi2
10.8 mi2
9.3 mi2
How Can Starfield’s Star Map Be So Large?
Starfielduses procedural generation to expand planetary environments. This has allowed developers to create an entire galaxy with100 star systems and over 1,000 planets.
This is not Bethesda’s first utilization of procedurally generated biomes. The company had employed this technique much earlier, in 1996, when they created one ofthe largest maps in gaming historyforThe Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall.
Is Starfield Bigger Than No Man’s Sky?
According to the developers ofNo Man’s Sky, the game’s open-world universe features an astounding 18 quintillion planets, which significantly surpasses the number of star systems inStarfield.
WhileStarfieldincorporates procedural generation, its map size is not as expansive as that ofNo Man’s Sky. InNo Man’s Sky, procedural generation is employed to generate new planets, whereasStarfieldutilizes this feature to create diverse planet biomes and terrains. It’s important to note that the number of planets inStarfieldremains fixed.
Starfieldwill be available for PC and Xbox Series X|S on June 23, 2025.
