Remember Reach? Starfield players discover an iconic Halo planet recreated in-game

Starfield
(Image credit: Bethesda)

With around 1000 explorable planets on offer, Starfield is positively bursting with new environments to explore. But some players think they’ve discovered something more familiar: an homage to a classic Halo planet. Kinda. 

While the Halo series is usually set on the alien rings, 2010’s Halo: Reach took the action to the titular planet on the Eridani System. Some eagle-eyed Starfield fans have now travelled to the Eridani System themselves and found a planet that very much resembles Reach. In Bethesda’s mammoth RPG - and in the real world - the planet is called Eridani II and can be found in the bottom left corner of your starmap. 

The similarities between the two planets are a little hard to ignore, especially when it comes to their biomes. Lush forests? Rolling hills? Gorgeous canyons? Breathable air and clear skies? Check, check, and check. They even share a pretty similar colour palette. Both Starfield and Halo use real star systems in their respective universes, so finding Eridani II is no surprise. Seeing how similar these environments are, however, is an amazing discovery. 

“Out of over 1000 planets/moons, this is the first planet I surveyed 100%,” player geoffsykes wrote on the Starfield subreddit. “It’s also where I built my first outpost. I was a Halo: Reach fanatic since the day the beta dropped… yet, this was completely lost on me.” Although, the player reckons that if the Easter Egg was truly intentional, then “some ostrich-like fauna would have been appropriate.” We’ll just leave that for the modders now, shall we?

The discovery has also prompted some players to search for other planets from their favourite space exploration series. “I must find the planet from Alien,” says one commenter. Another mentions that Eridani I is the planet Vulcan from Star Trek, although the similarities aren’t quite so obvious between those two. Some very dedicated fans have even found the fictional planet of Earth, which you might recognise from a few games here and there. 

For more crossover content, take a look at the iconic Halo and Star Wars ships recreated in Starfield.

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.