Starfield's global financial system could play a bigger role in the game than many suspected, as fans spotted more hints that Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi RPG will involve an interstellar banking system.
Keen fans of Starfield have been poring over footage of the game ever since it was first released during the recent Xbox and Bethesda showcase. While detectives had previously noted that the character creation program mentioned a mortgage scheme and a fictional company called GalBank, more hidden references to the bank were detected in the Starfield setting.
In a Reddit post (opens in a new tab), u/Reasonabledwarf noted that the first letters of the GalBank brand can be seen on the side of a building in New Atlantis, one of the four main cities in Starfield. Meanwhile, another redditor (opens in a new tab) noticed that a GalBank-branded building is briefly shown on planet Neon (see it in the time-stamped video below).
galbank_headquarters_are_visible_in_the_showcase by r/Starfield
Although minor, these appearances give us a small indication of how banks work in the game. It appears that GalBank will be physically present in the world of Starfield, and visitors can visit the bank through set locations.
It is quite similar to the banking system included in Daggerfall, the second game in The Elder Scrolls series. Banks could be found in every major region of Daggerfall and allowed the player to deposit gold into their personal account, take out loans at 10% interest, and even buy and sell houses. If you ever default on a loan, your reputation in that bank's area would drop.
speculative investment
There's no confirmation yet that Starfield's banking system is as strong as Daggerfall's, but it's possible. The idea that players can take out mortgages during character creation and enter a GalBank branch later in the game suggests that there will be a fairly complex banking system in Starfield.
It certainly wouldn't be out of place. The NASA punk world building of Starfield was designed to be family friendly. Speaking about the design of Starfield on Xbox Wire (opens in a new tab) earlier this year, lead artist Istvan Pely said that Bethesda "wanted a very realistic vision" of a sci-fi future, and that gamers should power "draw a line against current dayspace technology and extrapolate from there into the future, to make it believable and relatable." Banking is certainly a believable aspect of a distant, spacey future.
There are plenty of other reasons to get excited too. An observant fan spotted a scientific easter egg hidden in Starfield's character creation menu, and the fine print on Xbox Game Pass hinted at when the game might finally release. However, the TRG editor is not too impressed and believes that Starfield is already losing the space race.
