Best way to play Starfield with an Xbox One?

[Brian G Turner]

So, my wife really wants Starfield for her birthday later this year. The trouble is, I've just found out that our Xbox One may be too old to play it - at least with a bought gaming disc.

However, there may be an option to play Starfield on an Xbox One using Xbox Cloud Gaming, which means signing up to an Xbox Ultimate Game Pass?

Alternatively, we'd need to upgrade to an Xbox S or Xbox X.

Have to admit I'm a bit confused here - we've never subscribed to gaming services, especially gaming passes before, on either the Xbox or PlayStation, so this is all a bit new. For example, if I bought the Ultimate Game Pass for Xbox, how long could we expect to have access to Starfield for? Just that as it provides access to "new" games and discounts for "old" games I presume that access will be limited for a specific period? Either way, if we did subscribe then what's the most cost-effective way of doing so?

Alternatively, we could look to upgrade to an Xbox S or Xbox X. However, the Xbox S appears to be another streaming-only option, so I'm given the impression it's a hardware upgrade from the Xbox One which will allow for better graphics, but otherwise it's back to an ultimate Game Pass subscription?

That just leaves the Xbox X, which is more familiar territory - you buy a game disc, you install it on your console, you play it. However, there's lots of flash advertising about frame rates and 4K gaming, but we just have an old HDTV and have no plans to change this any time soon.

So, if any one has any points on using a game pass, or upgrading a console, it would be appreciated.

 

[Foxbat]

Never used a game pass myself but I did try to find out what it was a while back. This might help

Xbox Game Pass explained: How it works, what it costs, and what you can play

Everything you need to know about the Microsoft Gaming subscription service for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and your mobile devices

www.gamesradar.com

 

[Brian G Turner]

Cheers, just been reading another version here:

Xbox Cloud Gaming: everything you need to know

Xbox Cloud Gaming lets you take Xbox Game Pass anywhere

www.techradar.com

So it looks like subscribing to the Ultimate Game Pass will be the best option in the short-term, but it also looks like this will be for a single player - there's a whole family of us looking to play on Starfield, so managing saved games might be an issue. Apparently, Microsoft did have a Friends and Family pass in beta, but that's been discontinued so I guess we can't count on that. I suppose we'll just have to subscribe and see what we can make do with it.

Also, to answer my own question, as Starfield is a Microsoft game, that should remain available for free in the cloud gaming store.

 

[Foxbat]

What about one account with multiple saves named after the family member?
E.g. Save one: Brian
Save Two: Mrs Brian
Save Three Brian The Younger
etc.
That way, you could each play from your own savepoint.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yeah, that's what we thought, but it's likely to get messy that way.

Anyway, my wife says she's against going on a subscription in principle, especially as it's more expensive than getting a new console in the long run - but there's little point buying a new console for just one game at the moment.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I'm very keen for this game too, but having looked at the PC specs that it needs, I find that for the first time since 2015 when I got my rig, my specs are just over the minimum specs.

Thus I'm a tad nervous about getting this. True my PC is old for a PC and has has given me a stellar service, but I've had experience getting games and discovering that I've been just a bit short, hence requiring some sort of hardware upgrade - usually a new graphics card.

But now it's almost at the point where a new PC would really be the best answer, as I'm not sure a mega powered graphics card on a old motherboard would cut it. But same as you, Brian, just for one game....yeah. I might frighten myself and see how much a good PC (my version of good - future proof as much as possible, so reasonably top end) costs now.

As for Xbox One, that's a pretty old machine, right? True Bethesda are owned by Microsoft, so you expect some sort of optimisation for Xbox consoles, but I'd be a bit wary about performance with older consoles - remember the debacle with Cyberpunk 2077.

 

[Bugg]

Yeah, that's what we thought, but it's likely to get messy that way.

Anyway, my wife says she's against going on a subscription in principle, especially as it's more expensive than getting a new console in the long run - but there's little point buying a new console for just one game at the moment.

Sensible, I think. One thing to bear in mind with playing it on an Xbox One via the cloud is that the game won't be installed on your console, it will be streamed from the game servers as you play it. I believe Microsoft say a minimum of 10Mbps is required but a stable speed of 20Mbps or higher is recommended for a "low latency" experience.

That said, sometimes they offer the first month free so it might be worth it in order to try it out, if there's a deal like that going.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

Apologies if this has already been addressed but I pay for this service for my daughter who uses it on both her PC and her previous gen Xbox (I no longer know what they are named due to the insane naming method they have adopted). I also sign in to play on games on my PC and as far as I am ware there have been no conflicts in terms of save games. Not sure if this is helpful or not. It is an excellent service though and I would benefit from it more if all my gaming friends didnt play exclusively on Playstation.