Starfield Reportedly Having Issues Running on Some Intel…

Summary

Early access players report that Starfield is unplayable on Intel Arc graphics cards, causing disappointment among users.
Both AMD and NVIDIA released graphics driver updates for Starfield's compatibility, while Intel has not.
Intel acknowledges the issues with Starfield on Arc GPUs and promises an updated graphics driver during the game's full release on September 6.

With just days to go until the full release of Starfield, some early access players reported on social media that the game is unplayable on Intel Arc graphics cards, with some adding that the game window refuses to show at all on any of Intel's Alchemist line of GPUs. The reports prompted a response from Intel, but its reply was not what Starfield players wanted to hear ahead of the game's launch.

Users who purchased Starfield's Premium Edition started playing as early as August 31, with the consensus that Bethesda's new IP has a similar feel to Skyrim and Fallout 4 from both a gameplay and a technical perspective. Ahead of Starfield's full release on September 6, both AMD and NVIDIA released graphics driver updates to ensure compatibility with Starfield. While some players claimed that the opening hours of Starfield are a tougher sell compared to Skyrim, Intel Arc users were unable to experience the start of Starfield at all.

According to reports, Intel Arc graphics cards, such as the A750, failed to load Starfield. Though the Windows Task Manager showed Starfield's window as open in the background and taking up significant system resources, attempts to bring it to the foreground have proven futile. This naturally led to Intel users airing their grievances on social media, which prompted a response from Intel on Twitter. While Intel said it is aware of the issues with Starfield on Arc GPUs, a fix is still not available for affected graphics cards at the time of writing.

Intel stated that an updated graphics driver for Arc GPUs is slated to arrive during Starfield's full release. But that has not stopped users from expressing their disappointment with Intel for not having a game-ready driver for Starfield ready at the same time as both AMD and NVIDIA. With Intel lagging in GPU sales, the problems with Starfield are the latest issues Intel is facing in selling the Arc line. With Starfield reviews still restricted to media outlets and Steam curators at the time of writing, it remains to be seen how many more dissatisfied Intel users will express their complaints.

Despite Intel Arc GPUs having a rough go with Starfield during early access, the game remains one of the most anticipated titles of 2023. Only time will tell how well Starfield will perform on Intel Arc GPUs once the updated drivers are released.

Starfield launches on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.