Starfield collector’s edition will not include an actual disc

Battle Beyond the Stars

Bethesda has confirmed that the “Constellation Edition” of its upcoming space opera Starfield will not contain an actual disc of the game itself, and will instead feature a download code for the chosen platform. The publisher noted this controversial development in a tweet from its support team.

“Hello!” said the team, responding directly to a fan’s question. “All physical editions include a code for the chosen platform. There are no physical discs”. The tweet has since been deleted from Twitter.

The community understandably responded unhappily to the news, with some decrying the return of “non-physical physical editions”, while others pointed to the continued slant toward a future where archiving games becomes a much-more-difficult venture without hard copies of the games themselves. The response was overwhelmingly negative, with some, (some as Twitter’s Wario64), pointing out that certain adverts for Starfield’s physical release had clearly stated that a disc was included.

The removal of the initial tweet suggested that there were crossed wires somewhere along the chain of communication. And that indeed proved to be the case, as it now seems that while the standard edition of Starfield will feature a physical disc including game code, it is purely the $250 Constellation Edition that will not — a digital download code for the title being issued as part of this version. And so, anybody who wishes to pick up the Collector’s Edition and own a physical disc of the sci-fi spectacle will, at this stage, be required to pick up both versions.

Starfield launches September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.