Starfield's lack of ground vehicles is a deliberate choice, Bethesda says

Bethesda has discussed its decision not to include ground vehicles in Starfield - at least, not at the game's launch.

Touch down on one of Starfield's many planets and there are miles of planet to explore in each direction. But you'll be doing this on foot, aided by your trusty jetpack. You can't slide into a waiting dune buggy or landspeeder and jet across the Jundland Wastes, Luke Skywalker style.

This is by design, Bethesda's Todd Howard has said, as it makes for a more authored experience.

"It's something we consider," Howard said, when questioned by Bloomberg about the lack of vehicles on planets. "Once you do vehicles it does change the gameplay. By focusing once you land on your ship that you're foot, it lets us really for the players make it an experience where we know how fast they're seeing things.

"And in one sense, you do have a vehicle. You have your spaceship, you can go around space. On the surface you have a jetpack you can upgrade which is super fun."

In a year where even Link was able to cobble together vehicles to cross Hyrule, some players have said they hope Bethesda adds the ability to construct land-based modes of transport for Starfield. And who knows? In some future DLC or expansion, it may happen.

But other players have said they're glad Starfield doesn't rely on ground vehicles to get around, as it means that discoveries can be centred within a smaller area of a map.

During the same interview, Bloomberg questioned Howard - in a fairly stern voice - why Starfield had not been optimised for PC. "Uh, we did," Howard replied. "It's running great, it's a next-gen PC game. We really do push the technology so you may need to upgrade your PC."

For more on Bethesda's big space adventure and what is actually in the game at present, check out our Starfield walkthrough.