Venturing into Starfield’s vast cosmos, with its endless planets and solar systems, is a thrill. Especially the first time around. But at some point in your exploration, you might hit a snag in the form of a message saying, ‘Boundary reached: Open the map or return to your ship.’
If you try to push past it, you’ll meet an invisible barrier with another message: ‘You cannot go that way.’
What in the cosmos is going on?
What does the ‘boundary reached’ message mean in Starfield?
This alert is Starfield’s way of saying, “You’ve gone as far as you can here.” While the game promises vast exploration on all planets, there are edges to each of them. You can roam freely, but only up to a point.
Many anticipated they’d have the freedom to explore a planet in its entirety. Bethesda even hinted as much themselves, but they never explicitly confirmed it, and it turns out it’s not possible.
While it’s a bummer for those dreaming of endless space exploration, there’s a bright side: the journey to each boundary is packed with intrigue and adventure including puzzles, temples, and companions to find, and it takes a while to hit it.
How far can you go before hitting the boundary?
You’ll hit the boundary on any given planet if you walk in a specific direction for about 20 minutes. There is a bit of wriggle on that number, though. It might pop up a tad earlier or later, but it’s inevitable. When it does, you can teleport to a fresh spot or simply choose a new direction.
Related: All Starfield difficulty levels, explained
It’s not ideal, but it’s not all doom and gloom; Starfield’s planets have limits, but they’re still expansive and filled with all sorts of interesting features, and there are plenty of them.
