The official Starfield Twitter account just shared a sneak peek at its universe’s timeline.
So the account shared four pictures, each with brief descriptions of what happened in four important years in the Starfield universe. We’ll go through what they shared and what it could possibly mean for you when you actually go into the game to play.
“Year 2307
Freestar Collective starts farming on Vesta, and are accused of violating the treaty by the UC. The Colony War begins.”
The Colony War is Starfield’s equivalent of World War II, or perhaps on a cultural level and in different contexts, the US Civil War, France’s Algerian War, etc etc. Starfield starts 20 years after the end of the Colony War, relatively recent, and so fresh wounds still fester in the minds of the entities involved.
The war was waged between the Freestar Collective, which was a confederation of three star systems, and the United Colonies, an even bigger collection of particularly militarized colonies that form one larger space republic. The United Colonies actually lost this war, allowing the Freestars to remain fully independent. Bethesda had mentioned this war before but we only have a date for it now.
“Year 2310
Constellation comes into possession of their first artifact and tucks it away in the Constellation archives.”
Constellation is the faction that you, the player, yourself start out in. As Bethesda revealed in the Starfield Direct, the artifacts are a major Macguffin that moves events throughout the game. The group Constellation was itself formed for the purpose of assembling and investigating the artifacts, to discover what they really mean, and what powers they possess, if any.
“Year 2311
After several years of conflict, the Colony War effectively comes to an end with the Battle of Cheyenne.”
As we had noted above, the Colony War was a defining moment for the world of Starfield as you enter the game. Cheyenne refers to a star system in the game, with at least one identified planet, Akila, the home planet of the Freestar Collective. This battle itself was already referenced in prior marketing.
“Year 2315
The UC Vanguard is founded. The Vanguard is the UC’s own civilian navy, relying on civilians using their own ships.”
Finally, we see the immediate consequence of the end of the war. In spite of the description provided for the United Colony Vanguard, in fact, this faction is a reactionary group to the Colony War. The Vanguard is formed in response to the United Colony’s loss to the Freestar Collective, intended to protect UC interests moving forward. We see this early on that patriotism and fanaticism exist in the world of Starfield.
Starfield will be releasing on September 6, 2023, on Xbox Series X|S, and on Windows via Steam. It will also be Day One on Game Pass.
