The financial system of Starfield’s world may play a bigger role in the game than many suspected, as fans have uncovered more hints that Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi RPG will involve an interstellar banking system.
Excited Starfield fans have been meticulously scouring their footage of the game since they were first shown during the recent Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. While detectives had previously noted that the character creation scheme mentioned a mortgage system and a fictitious company called GalBank, more hidden references to the bank were seen in Starfield’s environment.
On a Reddit post (opens in new tab), u/Reasonabledwarf pointed out that the first letters of the GalBank brand can be seen on the side of a building in New Atlantis, one of Starfield’s four largest cities. Other redditor (opens in new tab)meanwhile, noticed that a GalBank-branded building is briefly shown on the planet Neon (check it out in the video below).
galbank_headquarters_are_visible_in_the_showcase from r/Starfield
Although small, these appearances give us a small indication of how banks will work in the game. It looks like GalBank will be physically present in the world of Starfield, and visitors can visit the bank at set locations.
This sounds quite similar to the banking system included in Daggerfall – the second game in The Elder Scrolls series. Banks could be found in all major regions of Daggerfall and allowed the player to deposit gold into their personal account, take out loans at an interest rate of 10%, and even buy and sell houses. If you ever default on a loan, your reputation in that bank’s region would drop.
speculative investment
There’s still no confirmation that Starfield’s banking system is as robust as Daggerfall’s, but it’s possible. The idea that players can take out mortgages on character creation and enter a GalBank branch later in the game suggests that a rather complex banking system will be present in Starfield.
It certainly wouldn’t be out of place. Starfield’s NASA-punk world-building was designed to be familiar. Talking about Starfield’s design for Xbox Wire (opens in new tab) earlier this year, lead artist Istvan Pely said that Bethesda “wanted a very realistic vision” of a sci-fi future, and players should be able to “draw a line from current space technology and extrapolate from there to the future.” future, so it’s believable and relatable.” The banking sector is certainly a believable aspect of a distant and spatial future.
There’s a lot more to get excited about too. A keen fan spotted a science easter egg hidden in Starfield’s character creation menu, and the fine print on Xbox Game Pass hinted at when the game might finally be released. TRG’s editor-in-chief isn’t overly impressed, however, and reckons Starfield is already losing the space race.