From a musical perspective, Starfield stands out, amazingly, with just six notes. These make up the melody that plays first when you start the game on your PC or Xbox.
Composers call this the theme of each work; in Starfield’s case, these six notes are woven into the very body of the soundtrack. It is one factor that trains the player’s mind that, hey, you’re playing Starfield.
Originally, this theme would’ve been something different, composer Inon Zur revealed in an interview with Xbox News. However, Todd Howard asked Zur to change the theme two years into the game’s development, leading to the theme we know today.
Two years is a long time to work on something and have it discarded, but Inon Zur understood why. He said that he and the team at Bethesda believe that “every game needs to have its own DNA,” a “musical signature.”
In this context, Zur meant a signature that, when you hear it, you’ll know it is Starfield.
So, how did the composer come up with the theme? Zur came up with the six notes by combining three emotions - awe at the vastness of space, the fear of what’s waiting in front of us, and the excitement of discovery.
All of these came together to form the musical backbone of Starfield, Bethesda’s biggest title to hit the markets so far. This theme describes not only the apprehension and uncertainty of being in such a vast galaxy but also the hopefulness of discovering something new that best describes the gameplay.
Zur also worked closely with the band Imagine Dragons and their production team to ensure the main theme was incorporated into their Starfield-themed song, “Children of the Sky,” launched just before early access began.