Bethesda commissioned the internet's rotoscope jokester to get goofy with Starfield

Frame of an animation by Joel Haver of a man in a space suit sitting in a cockpit surrounded by succulent plants
(Image credit: Joel Haver)

Starfield's launch has been an invitation for us all to indulge in our favorite glitches, physics gags, and bugs, and now Bethesda has gotten in on the goofs too. It sponsored popular YouTube animator Joel Haver to whip up a Starfield skit in his signature weird rotoscope style. And yeah, seems like Haver's got the junk collecting bug just as bad as any of us.

If you're not already familiar with Haver's style, it can feel a bit like falling asleep to Toonami and waking up to Adult Swim circa 2006. You know, when the weird cartoons you weren't supposed to be watching came on. His videos delight in awkward delivery and drawn out bits about silly RPG systems, and Starfield got a full share of that treatment.

Three unlucky, would-be space pirates come up against common Bethesda RPG fixtures: junk, idly passing time for no reason, and truly ruthless players. Nevermind that the guy in charge is equipped with what appears to be a hand drill.

"Huge thanks to Bethesda for trusting me to be goofy in your world and for letting me make whatever I want," Haver says beneath the new video. "Once again I was tasked with making a four minute animation and we wound up going way overboard."

In case you missed it, Larian Studios also sponsored Haver to animate a gag based on Baldur's Gate 3—and there was an Elden Ring one too. If we're in the era of big RPGs commissioning genuinely funny creators to meme on their games, I'm about it.

For more Starfield-based cheek in the gaming community, don't miss NPCs getting bodied by monsters mid conversation, all the weird spaceships folks are making, and the ever-important Thomas mods.

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Starfield guide: Our hub of advice
Starfield traits: The full list, with our top picks
Starfield companions: All your recruitable crew
Starfield romance options: Space dating
Starfield console commands: Every cheat you need
Starfield mods: Space is your sandbox

Lauren Morton
Associate Editor

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.