Starfield is finally playable on Intel Arc GPUs, but there’s still a long way to go

The PC hardware space (and really, any media that covers video games) has been cranking out Starfield content left and right. You know, the usual stuff: benchmarks, optimised settings, CPU/GPU scaling tests, and so on. But you may have noticed that none of that includes Intel Arc GPUs.

The reason is that for most owners of Arc cards, Starfield simply wasn’t playable. There’s no shortage of YouTube videos and angry tweets about the problem, which left Arc owners who opted for Starfield’s expensive Premium Edition sitting on their hands.

Intel acknowledged the problem on the day of the early access launch, but it wasn’t until today that some actual progress has been made. Intel released new drivers for Arc GPUs today, which, according to Intel, address a few of the major issues, such as extended load times (and the fact many people simply couldn’t play the game).

This is only the beggining, however, as you’d expect. Intel said its driver engineering team continues to work on more stability, and performance improvements, so expect more drivers to show up in the coming weeks.

We’ve just posted a new driver for Intel Arc graphics users playing @StarfieldGame. This update addresses many functionality issues, including extended load times.

The driver engineering team is still hard at work on further stability and performance improvements, but we want to… https://t.co/mZ2P8OZ2OD

— Intel Graphics (@IntelGraphics) September 3, 2023

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Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the fact that players with Arc GPUs haven’t been able to play Starfield, missing out on over half of the early access period they paid for. Indeed, it’s also a very poor look for Intel when none of the reports covering GPU performance in the game feature Intel Arc GPUs.

Realistically, only a small portion of the player base is affected by this, just because of Intel’s current market share in the GPU space. With that in mind, it’s good to see rapid progress on releasing drivers for those players, even if it looks like they’re in for a period of turbulence with one of the year’s biggest releases.

Starfield officially launches September 6 on PC, and Xbox Series X/S, when it will also be available on Game Pass.

Pre-order Starfield today or get ready with discounted Game Pass codes

Starfield will be launching exclusively for Xbox Series X/S and PC (Windows) on September 6th 2023. Pre-order your copy of Bethesda’s upcoming action RPG from the links below and get set for the new galactic adventure.

Players who pre-order the premium edition can play Starfield early from September 1st. That’s five days before it lands on Game Pass! PC Players looking to upgrade their PC can also get Starfield for free when you buy select AMD Ryzen processors, AMD Radeon graphics cards, or a gaming system that contains both.

Alternatively, you can play Starfield on Game Pass on day one. Our shop here at VG247 is currently offering a 5 per cent discount on Game Pass codes and Xbox Credit – simply redeem the code “VG247” at the check out. The code is valid until 31st July, so stock up now to save money on a Game Pass membership or discounted Xbox Credit if you’re buying Starfield on the Xbox Store.