Starfield debuts its first character - a robot called Vasco

Starfield
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Starfield has introduced its first character - a robotic companion called Vasco.

Earlier today on April 5, Bethesda Game Studios lead artist Istyvan Pely introduced Vasco in the video seen just below. The Starfield lead introduces one of their "very favorite" companions in Starfield as Vasco, an early robot constructed by Lunar Robotics, who was then retrofitted and upgraded for missions out in the vast constellation.

Vasco is described as a "utilitarian," well suited to space travel and the challenges that come with it. The video above shows Vasco repairing a spacecraft, which points to the robot having roles other than just following the player character around.

Our robotic friend is a bipedal construct, and is able to traverse multiple types of terrain found throughout the constellations. Additionally, Vasco actually has gear to carry various items, and Pely describes it as "suited to extensive overland journeys," pointing to Vasco being able to carry gear for us when we're out and about.

Vasco is also described as "primarily peaceful" in the video from Bethesda, but the robot does have defensive capabilities. We can see glimpses of concept art where Vasco has what looks like a plasma weapon, so the robot should be able to accompany us into combat in some scenarios in Starfield.

In fact, this isn't the first time we've seen Vasco. Last month in March, Bethesda showed off a very brief snippet of gameplay starring a robot, which happened to be our very first in-game footage of Starfield. We knew back then that this robot's name was Vasco, but now we have a better idea of what exactly Vasco's going to be doing in Starfield.

Check out our full upcoming Xbox Series X games guide to see everything else that's launching on Xbox's new-gen console over the coming year.

Hirun Cryer

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.