*Starfield*’s PS5 version is a disaster! Bethesda really let people down this time

Back in the day, I played everything from The Legend of Sword and Fairy to later Western open-world games, and I always felt that a good game knows no East or West—it all comes down to whether enough sincerity has been put into it. But after seeing more and more over the years, I’ve come to understand one thing: no matter how massive the scale, how famous the name, a technical trainwreck can still grind players’ enthusiasm into dust. So when it comes to the current state of Starfield on PS5, my first reaction isn’t surprise—it’s frustration on behalf of those players who just jumped in.

According to foreign media outlet Play3, after Starfield launched on PS5, both the standard PS5 and the PS5 Pro experienced widespread technical issues, mainly involving crashes, system freezes, and performance instability. What makes it even more exasperating is that these crashes aren’t tied to any fixed trigger—they can happen randomly during exploration, shipbuilding, cutscenes, and other parts of the game. One moment you’re immersed in a space adventure, and the next the screen goes black and kicks you out. To put it bluntly, that kind of experience is no different from an interrupted martial arts duel: just as the momentum peaks, the sword snaps.

Some players have reported even more serious problems, saying that when these issues occur, they sometimes have to force-restart the console. At that point, this is no longer just a minor bug. Many people have tried deleting save files, reinstalling the game, and switching graphics modes, but none of it has solved the problem, which suggests the root cause most likely lies in the version itself. And speaking of the game itself, for a title driven by exploration and built around a lengthy experience, stability issues are the last thing you want—because what they damage isn’t just a frame or two, but the player’s most precious sense of investment and security.

The attitude in the player community right now is actually very straightforward: fix it now, and if you can’t, issue refunds. Quite a few people have even explicitly called on Bethesda to take notes from other studios and adopt a more proactive hotfix pace, rather than offering only vague technical support suggestions. That demand isn’t unreasonable. After all, players have already followed the official troubleshooting steps, and it still hasn’t helped. At that point, the developer should step up and take responsibility for what comes next, instead of leaving users to grope around in the dark and trial-and-error their way through the failures on their own.

Beyond nostalgia, this controversy goes beyond just the technical side. Starfield’s brand-new DLC, “Earth Fleet,” has also drawn plenty of criticism for feeling thin on content and lacking enough fresh ideas. With the main game version unstable and the new content failing to boost its reputation, this is a damaging situation for any live-service title meant to be supported over the long term. It’s like a martial arts sequel that was supposed to feel grand and powerful, only for the moves to be poorly polished and even the new chapter to come off as rushed—of course players are going to be disappointed.

But looking at it calmly, if you’re still on the fence and haven’t bought the PS5 version yet, my advice is very clear: don’t rush to buy it. At the very least, wait until stability patches arrive and word of mouth improves. As for players who have already bought it, keep an eye on the official repair progress, and if the issues remain unresolved for a long time, there should be absolutely no psychological burden in reasonably asking for a refund. At this point in the gaming industry, players are not here to do testing for publishers—especially not for a title of this caliber. A launch version should never be turned into a high-stakes gamble.

I’ve always had high expectations for major studios, because the higher they stand, the more solid their fundamentals should be. Starfield is not lacking in ambition, but ambition has never been a substitute for polish. What a big-budget space epic should deliver is vastness and immersion—not crashes, freezes, and the chill in your heart after one forced restart after another.