Starfield is doing the new-era “actually this game comes out five days early if you want to pay more” trick that is so common among big games these days. But in this case, it’s a way for Xbox to squeeze some more cash out of players when most of them are just going to be playing for free (“free”) on Xbox Game Pass at launch.
The normal edition of the game is $69 if you buy it outright for Xbox, or on Steam. But the Digital Premium Edition that comes with the imminent release date of September 1 rather than September 6 is $99 (technically it’s 8 PM on August 31 in the US). And if you want to buy an “upgrade” above and beyond the Game Pass edition by itself, that’s $35. Just getting that extra $5 out of you for no reason, I guess.
You are, of course, not just paying $30-35 for early access. This is indeed something of an expansion pass. You also get:
The Shattered Space Story Expansion – We have no clue how big this is or how far away its launch is, but it’s essentially the DLC part of this pricey pass. However, this says this is the first story expansion, so there are more to come that are not included with the price here.
A Constellation Skin Pack: Equinox Laser Rifle, Spacesuit, Helmet and Boost Pack – These kind of pre-order things are somewhat standard in bundles like this. As “skins” they should not be some sort of powerful gear set that affects gameplay.
Access to Starfield Digital Artbook and Original Soundtrack – I think the “access” here is digital, given that this is a digital upgrade pack.
There is indeed a super pricey $300 Collector’s “Constellation” edition which comes with an actual Constellation watch, plus all the other stuff. I hear the watch is actually kind of rad, for what it’s worth. I believe this is sold out most everywhere, however. Limited supply of watches and all that.
Even though I’m under embargo, I can say that I cannot attest to anything in the Digital or Collector’s bundles. I have no additional information about the expansion. I don’t have those special skins. If you’re someone who is super into Bethesda RPGs and plan to play long term, it’s probably worth getting for the future expansion alone with the five days of early access. Though as everyone from Pete Hines and Phil Spencer has said, this is a 50, 100, 200+ hour game, and one they hope you’ll be as playing as long as people played something like Skyrim for like, a decade. So in the long term, not sure how much five days matters.
But yeah, that’s the bundle. See you in a few days with a review.
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