A Starfield bug is leaving players' games more likely to crash if they don't activate New Game Plus

Starfield has a bug where, the longer someone plays without activating its 'New Game Plus' mode, the more frequently the RPG crashes.

As PC Gamer reports, various modders are attempting to bring the issue to Bethesda's attention. "I've been investigating an issue experienced by me and several other people where long-running saves without [New Game Plus] would experience more and more frequent crashes during play," writes a modder on Reddit.

The whole problem hinges on something called 'dynamic form IDs.' In short, these are IDs that Starfield assigns to every item in the game, and it's through this identification system that Starfield can apparently remember where every item in the game is. If you drop a weapon in New Atlantis, for example, it stays there because Starfield logs the dynamic form ID.

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Every now and then, Bethesda's huge RPGs will effectively recycle the dynamic form IDs, whereby they basically delete items from the game, so a dropped item in Skyrim will eventually vanish. This is apparently an effort to save memory and stabilize the entire game, and according to the modders, Starfield isn't recycling the dynamic form IDs, so the RPG becomes more unstable the more dynamic form IDs there are.

The solution, of course, is to effectively reset the entire game by starting the New Game Plus mode. By activating the mode, you reset all the accumulated dynamic form IDs over your playthrough and stabilize the entire game. However, it's easy to see why players might want to keep on adventuring around the galaxy without being forced to restart the game.

"The team is aware that some players have been experiencing increased crashing and instability in the late game," a Bethesda employee writes on Reddit in response, seen below. "It's been a high priority and I'm happy to report that there's a fix planned to address this for Xbox/Microsoft Store being included in our next update, currently scheduled for next week, that we hope will resolve the issue for many of you."

Comment from r/Starfield

That post was written four days ago, so if Bethesda's plans are still on track, a fix for the issue should be launched at some point over the next few days.

Check out our Starfield ending guide if you've journeyed around for hundreds of hours and are wondering what awaits you at the 'end' of the game.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.