Starfield community rallies around terminally ill fan who doesn’t think they’ll live to see the game’s September release

For those who’ve invested thousands of hours into the likes of Skyrim and Fallout 4, the release of Starfield, which is now pencilled in for September 6, can’t come soon enough.

Regardless of what you want to see from the next showcase of Bethesda's venture into space or how many interstellar mods you plan to install once it arrives, the idea of being able to delve into a freshly curated game filled with new quests, characters, and locations has RPG lovers of all stripes intrigued.

Currently, though, some of the fans who’ve spent the last few months speculating about the game they’re incredibly keen to play and drawing spaceships are rallying around a member of their community who seemingly believes that, due to a terminal illness, they might not live to see the game release.

Would you like to see Bethesda find a way to honour this fan in Starfield?

The discussion surrounding this is the subject of a recent thread on the Starfield subreddit, which began with a post from user Mralexhay, who said: “(I’m a) bit gutted at the (release) date reveal, as I’ve been following this project for years and now it looks like I won’t get to play it.”

They went on to explain: “(I) was disappointed with the delay from November as I’d stopped treatment for my lung cancer (I’m aged 35, and have never smoked) in September and was looking forward to (playing Starfield) as a distraction. Now I’m under palliative care, being looked after by my parents and playing (on) my Xbox is a great form of escapism for me, but holding out another six months is unlikely so… enjoy it on my behalf!”

Their fellow fans responded to this with an array of supportive messages, such as user Smart-Tumbleweed2765 saying: “I’ve posted your story in several Bethesda-related Discord (servers and) we're all feeling for you man.” and YourUrNan adding: “Man, this sucks, I'm so sorry. I'll see you in the stars, my friend.”

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Many also pledged to name their in-game spaceships in honour of Mralexhay, while some suggested that they’d try to help get in touch with Bethesda or the Make-a-Wish foundation in the hopes the developer might reach out to Mralexhay and do something nice for them, as it has with people like 'Skyrim grandma' Shirley Curry in the past.

Regardless of whether you’re planning on joining in with that campaign, make sure to follow us for lots of guides to Starfield’s world and mechanics. You can also check out our latest mods of the month for some great Skyrim and Fallout mods that’ll help tide you over until it arrives.