Starfield's proper launch is not be until September 6, but one speedrunner with early access to the Bethesda space epic has already beaten it in less than three hours.
As reported by VG247, YouTuber Micrologist posted a run that clocked in at exactly two hours, 52 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Starfield is massive, of course, with runs easily surpassing 100 hours. As was the case with other Bethesda role-playing games like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Fallout 4, however, players quickly found ways to cut the fat.
Micrologist's video, which obviously contains Starfield spoilers so watch at your own risk, shows glimpses of the game's main story but skips a lot too given Bethesda game director Todd Howard estimated it takes between 30 and 40 hours to complete normally.
The roughly three hour speedrun will no doubt be broken again and again going forward, especially once Starfield launches proper. Skryim, for example, has a speedrun record of 29 minutes and 42 seconds, while Fallout 4 sits at 53 minutes and 40 seconds.
Starfield is perhaps the most anticipated video game release in recent memory and has therefore captured the attention of fans in some other wild and wonderful ways. Virtual sandwiches got people talking about it being locked at 30 frames per second, for example, while an ESRB rating revealed drugs, in-game purchases, and jetpack sex.
In our 7/10 review, IGN said: "Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
