Starfield’s Main Story Spans 19 Missions Across the Galaxy

Bethesda’s Starfield consists of 19 main missions, each broken down into smaller tasks. This design impacts how players navigate the game’s critical path, which lasts about 30 to 40 hours. Since its release on September 6, 2023, the RPG has maintained a player base of 18,440 on Steam, despite receiving mixed reviews.

As outlined in Game Rant’s complete mission breakdown, the main quest takes players from the mining colony of Vectera to the Constellation faction’s investigation of mysterious Artifacts. The journey wraps up with a universe-altering finale. Key missions include One Small Step, The Old Neighborhood, Into the Unknown, All That Money Can Buy, and The Unearthed, among others.

The mission design follows Bethesda’s classic RPG style. Players can choose to abandon the linear main quest at almost any time. They can dive into faction questlines, side missions, or explore more than 1,000 procedurally generated planets. While the Constellation storyline forms the backbone of the game, those 19 main missions are just a small part of the over 200 quests available in the base game.

On Metacritic, Starfield holds an 88 score from critics. However, on Steam, the player ratings tell a different story—only 55% of 116,265 reviews are positive as of 2026. This gap between critic and player reception is one of the largest seen in a major RPG launch in recent years. Much of the community debate focuses on the game’s exploration style and pacing. Some players feel that the main mission structure slows down progress with dialogue-heavy sequences from the Constellation.

Post-launch, Bethesda has continued to support the game. The Shattered Space DLC introduced new story content, and Anchorpoint Station recently received guide coverage in April 2026. Right now, the base game retails for $49.99 on Steam, a drop from its $69.99 launch price on that platform.

By The Numbers

Main Story Missions	19
Metacritic Score	88
Steam Positive Rating	55% (116,265 reviews)
Current Steam Players	18,440
Current Steam Price	$49.99

Community feedback on Steam is quite critical. One reviewer bluntly stated: “absolute waste of money i cannot believe they got away with making this game and are still in business.” While this opinion may be extreme, it captures the frustration evident in the game’s low user score. With a 55% positive rating, Starfield falls into Steam’s “Mixed” category, which is unusual for a title that scored 88 on Metacritic at launch.

What To Watch

• DLC expansion cadence: Shattered Space launched in late 2024, but Bethesda hasn’t confirmed any new story DLC in the pipeline. A second expansion could increase the main mission count and potentially improve player sentiment.
• Steam review trajectory: With 116,265 reviews and 55% positive, keep an eye on whether ongoing updates and the game’s availability on Xbox Game Pass attract new players, which could affect that ratio.
• Price movement: The current $49.99 price on Steam indicates Bethesda hasn’t yet implemented a permanent deep discount. A significant price drop or a free Game Pass promotion might boost the active player count beyond the current 18,440.