Starfield is taking the world by storm, topping sales and performance charts the world over. It has been a long time coming and – theoretically – in development for more than two decades. It’s an epic space adventure that unfolds over an entire universe, but with that scale in mind, there’s one question people are asking – ‘How long is Starfield?’ It’s a fair question – but the answers for both the average casual gamer and the completionist player may surprise you.

It really is a discussion that takes place at very different ends of the spectrum. For some players, Starfield may seem overwhelming – there’s so much content jammed into this game that it might seem breathtaking at first. Once you’ve got the lay of the land, it’ll become apparent how manageable it is, and like other Bethesda Game Studios titles, most of that content is completely optional. So, how long is Starfield for both the average gamer and a completionist?

Let’s find out.

Image Credit: Bethesda Game Studios

How Long is Starfield?

As we’ve just said, the answer at both ends of the spectrum may surprise you.

For the average gamer, it’ll take around 18 hours to finish the main story of Starfield. But, for the completionist gamer, it can take anything up to 205 hours to finish Starfield. That’s according to HowLongToBeat.com – which also claims that doing the main story and side content will take around 50 hours. That’s a fair duration, but we’ve got a secret to share with you.

In reality, if you want to truly – truly – complete Starfield, it’ll take you thousands of hours.

Let’s put it this way:

There are more than 1000 explorable planets and moons in Starfield
Each planet and moon has resources, flora, and fauna to be scanned (in differing amounts), with that data being made available to sell, so it has value
Some of these planets are split into biomes, meaning you have to travel around to scan everything
It can take up to an hour to survey a full planet
Math 👍

Not only that but every planet is scattered with random objectives and points of interest, most of which are procedurally generated. There’s something to see on almost every surface you land on. Now, if we combine that with ship building, character growth, actioning side quests, finding collectables and easter eggs… There’s a chance that you may never, ever finish Starfield in its entirety.

How long is Starfield? Yeah, it’s pretty long.

Related: Is Starfield on PlayStation?

But Do You Need To Do It All?

That’s how long it takes to beat Starfield, but do you really need to do it all? Not particularly, no – there’s no sense in pouring your entire life into this one game. If you’re satisfied just finishing off the story, some side content, and then securing 100% of all the achievements, you can do so in 100 to 200 hours. It’s not impossible by any means, but it’s a fair undertaking for the average, casual gamer.

There are longer games out there, but Starfield definitely is vying for the the title of the longest game in history.

Have fun out there in the stars, explorer.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our Starfield news