Starfield loses Russian language support on PC, and fans have mixed feelings about it

Bethesda appears to have removed Russian language support from its upcoming RPG Starfield on PC, which has received a mixed reaction from fans.

As noticed on the Starfield subreddit (via SteamDB), it seems Bethesda has recently removed the Russian language option from its upcoming game on PC. It looks like Russian subtitles and in-game interface were present in the game as recently as April 4, as pointed out by PCGamesN, but now, on April 13, they've both since been removed.

Following this discovery, Starfield fans have been discussing whether or not this was a good thing to do in the comments of the post below. Although Bethesda hasn't revealed the reasoning behind this decision, many have guessed it is linked to the ongoing war in Ukraine. It wouldn't be the first time a video game company did this, as around this time last year, several developers suspended sales of its products in Russia, including Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Rockstar, and more. 

Russian will not be supported (Source: SteamDB) from r/Starfield

As fans have pointed out, this feels like an unfair decision on Bethesda's part as there are people outside of Russia that may have benefited from playing the game with Russian language options switched on, for example, players in Ukraine. 

Others have pointed out that the decision could have been made due to financial reasons. For instance, if Bethesda isn't planning to release the game in Russia - why would it add Russian language support? But this just brings us back to the argument above.

A lot could change between now and when Starfield releases on September 6, 2023, so we'll have to wait and see whether the game ships with Russian language support, or in the country at all, then. 

In the meantime, find out everything you need to know about the Starfield star systems.