Starfield Cruise Mode: Prepare For Takeoff (Sort Of)

Starfield Cruise Mode. There, I said it. The latest “innovative” addition to Bethesda’s ever-wobbly starship, announced with all the subtlety and fanfare of a patch note, has the community equal parts eager and exasperated. If you’re the sort of spacefarer who’s been longing for a true, uninterrupted journey across the stars, you might want to downshift those thrusters. If you’re here for Bethesda’s patented blend of cosmic promise and loading screens, well—man, do I have news for you.

Starfield Cruise Mode Isn’t the Seamless Spaceflight of Your Dreams

Let’s get one thing out of the airlock right away: Starfield Cruise Mode does not transform your ship into a magic carpet capable of crossing vast galactic distances with nothing but a gentle thrust and a captain’s whim. If you’ve played No Man’s Sky and found yourself thinking, “I’d love this, but with more dialogue and less actual flying,” good news: Starfield heard you. Or more likely, didn’t.

According to the code leaks (and let’s face it, when it comes to Bethesda, the leaks are half the marketing strategy), Cruise Mode only lets you pilot your ship between planets in the same star system. That dramatic jump from Sol to Alpha Centauri? Still tucked behind Bethesda’s favorite gameplay mechanic: the loading screen. So forget any sci-fi daydreams about following the curve of a planet’s horizon, throttling into seamless orbit, or enjoying uninterrupted flight through the big black. If you were hoping Bethesda finally leapt over the technological Rubicon, I regret to inform you—they tripped on a space potato and rolled back down the slope.

The Relentless Reign of the Loading Screen

Let’s talk about immersion. Cruising through ink-black voids with the warp drive humming—that’s space fantasy, right? Starfield Cruise Mode is more like a rental car with a GPS that reroutes you through the world’s most tedious toll booth every fifteen minutes. Sure, you might spend less time navigating a tangle of fast travel menus, but make no mistake: loading screens are still the true final boss here.

If you’ve been pining for the kind of uninterrupted, seamless spaceflight that No Man’s Sky promised (and, after several updates, mostly delivered), temper your expectations. Cruise Mode’s most optimistic promise is “slightly fewer menus, somewhat less interruption.” It’s a minor convenience that probably would’ve made more sense as a patch note than a headline feature. In other words, Starfield’s engine is still so nostalgic for the Xbox 360 era you can practically smell the Mountain Dew and old pizza boxes every time you hit the fly button.

Cruise Mode: The Feature That Dared Not Speak Its Name

Cruise Mode’s road to existence is a saga in itself. The feature was never officially revealed. Instead, data-miners uncovered it by sifting through Starfield’s code like digital truffle pigs. Fans found tantalizing references to Cruise Mode, sparking the usual cycle of speculation, rage, and Todd Howard memes. Bethesda responded as only Bethesda can: by patching it out so quickly you’d think it let players duplicate quantum credits or crash the universe’s economy.

Why the rush to hide it away? Maybe Cruise Mode wasn’t ready; maybe it was a half-baked feature never meant to see daylight. Or maybe Bethesda’s just allergic to surprises not tied to their own marketing timeline. Regardless, this anti-announcement cycle means we all get to play another round of “Wait and Groan” until Bethesda deems the universe worthy of this half-step towards modernity.

Starfield’s First Expansion – And The Problem With Low-Calorie Content

Remember that big moment when Bethesda revealed their visionary plan for Starfield’s post-launch content? No, neither do I. The first expansion, Shattered Space, dropped with a whimper—the kind of impact you get from tossing a wet napkin at a brick wall. Now the studio seems to be dangling Cruise Mode as a distraction. “Hey, look, you’ll be able to fly from Pluto to Uranus without a loading screen!* (*restrictions apply to interstellar travel, planetary launches, and anything fun).”

Meanwhile, the next significant expansion is vaporware until at least 2026. The original promise? Yearly expansions. The current reality? Dragging out Cruise Mode like the last dog treat in the bag. Bethesda fan service has started to feel an awful lot like calorie-free space snacks. If you need company in your disappointment, take solace in our brutally honest view on the Metal Gear Solid Delta multiplayer delay. Turns out, everyone’s waiting for their favorite game to deliver something better.

Bethesda’s Mysterious Updates: Exciting Things… Eventually

For those hoping Bethesda would juice us up with some thrilling Starfield news at this year’s Xbox Games Showcase—sorry. The best we got was a fleeting nod to “exciting things” on the horizon. Look, I’ve met more fulfilling promise-keepers in the comment section of a shipping notification. At this stage, pinning your hopes on unspecified future updates feels about as wise as letting Starfield autocomplete your navigation path—prepare to get rerouted through another holding pattern of disappointment.

If you’re the sort who sets calendar reminders for big updates or expansion launches, maybe hold off on requesting time off work for Starfield’s two-year anniversary. Unless you just want a day free to eat ice cream and ponder where your faith in space exploration went.

Should You Care About Starfield Cruise Mode?

Time for the real question: should you give a damn about Starfield Cruise Mode? If you’re still launching the game, desperate for anything that smooths out those endless flights (and the even longer waits), then sure—any optimization is welcome. It’s not transformative. It’s not even really new. But it is, technically, an improvement. Think of it as the difference between stepping on a tiny LEGO and stepping on a slightly larger LEGO: both hurt, but at least one doesn’t stick between your toes as long.

• TL;DR — Starfield Cruise Mode: You can now fly between planets in the same system. Leaving the system? Prepare for warp, i.e., a good old-fashioned loading screen.
• Still not seamless. Still not No Man’s Sky. But at least you may have fewer menu-based existential crises.
• Maybe revisit when it properly launches. Or don’t. Life’s short, and your hard drive can only hold so many space games.

Maybe this is what passes for seismic change in modern AAA gaming. Or maybe it’s just another round of polished mediocrity from a studio coasting on ten-year-old promises. If you want a real shakeup, you might want to take a look at how Doom The Dark Ages slashed its price for PS5, proving that impactful changes still exist out there—just maybe not in Starfield’s infinite cosmos.

Meanwhile, I’ll be here, quietly aging with a cold cup of coffee and loading screens for company. Ping me again in 2026 when expansion two lands—assuming Cruise Mode gets patched in before then. And hey, if you want to reminisce about when expansions actually meant something, hang out in the comments. Misery, as always, loves company. Space out.