Starfield Broadband Connection Required

[fred200]

We know from released specs that Starfield will require a broadband connection.

 

This is a first for a Bethesda single player game.

 

Possible reasons I can come up with:

 

1) Simple typo, and broadband is only required for downloading.

2) In-game store to buy merchandise

3) In-game link to Bethesda paid Creation Club mods

4) Procedural planet generation from online server

5) Server based DRM

 

If anyone can think of any reasons broadband connection is required that aren't awful, I would like to hear them.

 

[Gameplayer]

Honestly can not come up with anything that can not be easy used for evil purposes that no company or government should have ever in their hands.  Sorry it's just too easy to take a good thing and make it wrong.

[bjornk]

3 hours ago, fred200 said:

We know from released specs that Starfield will require a broadband connection.

 

This is a first for a Bethesda single player game.

 

Possible reasons I can come up with:

 

1) Simple typo, and broadband is only required for downloading.

2) In-game store to buy merchandise

3) In-game link to Bethesda paid Creation Club mods

4) Procedural planet generation from online server

5) Server based DRM

 

The ESRB rating states that the game will have in-game purchases so 2 and/or 3 are both likely, but broadband Internet is probably optional since it's only stated as a recommended requirement, the game may still work without Internet connection in offline mode. 1, 4 & 5 are all unlikely. 1. AFAIK there was indeed a typo on Steam page and they fixed it, i.e. removed it from minimum req. 4. Their approach of procedural generation is very simple, would've been a terrible idea if additional Cloud processing was required. 5. The game already has it in the form of Steam or XBOX store.

 

[isee]

If you where to download the game using Gamepass then you would need some form of IC to the server in order to check that both your subscription and the game are still valid upon startup. It's likely that is one of the reasons it's listed. 

 

There is also likely to be some sort of creation club replacement either at launch or down the line. Which to use would require a connection.

 

Doing anything with servers gameplay wise just isn't worth it monetarily in a singleplayer game, even discounting the technical hurdles. It's one of the reasons why Microsofts 'cloud gaming engine.' Never took off despite being one of their big initial selling points for the previous generation of consoles.

[nIn nIn nIn]

Well, as far as I am concerned a broadband connection should be mandatory.

 

Why?

 

The game is 124 GB of data - a fucking huge download.

 

And I vividly remember downloading and installing Halflife 2 18 years ago. Using fucking dial up (that was all we had in my town at that time). The game came on a DVD, but as I discovered that was only HALF the game. Valve created Steam specifically to distribute Halflife 2, what follwed after was a fucking godsend for gamers.

That game took 7 whole days to download and install. That was seven entire 24 hour days on fucking dial up.

Less than 8GB of data.

You NEED broadband. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by nIn nIn nIn

[knots1353]

I believe I saw something saying it was for the download and updates but should be playable offline once you downloaded it.  I'll point out that Steam changed their minimum requirements to remove the Broadband Internet Connection for minimal specs, which only now appears in the Recommended specs, 

 

[Reigor]

The internet connection is recommended but not required. In might be microtransactions, it might also for cloud services, or something else. But is it really anything to worry about until the game comes out?

 

Edit: Here are the latest spcs from the Steam page.

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 10 version 22H2 (10.0.19045)
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required
RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

Edited June 22, 2023 by Reigor

[fred200]

Thanks to those reporting that minimum specs no longer require broadband connection. That relieves most of my concerns.

[buhamerto]

I think it could be for connection to a watch from starfield collector's edition to in-game infos live transfer. If im right, in 45 minut video whet Todd try to sell to us this watch he said that this watch can display infos from game. :(im bad in English. not my native language):

Edited June 22, 2023 by buhamerto

[Jellyfish505]

I hope they are least have an off-line mode