Was Starfield's iconic cover art inspired by Akshay Kumar starrer Indian space epic? Netizens believe so

Bethesda fans have been waiting for the release of Starfield for a long time now. The space-faring odyssey is the first IP that the legendary developers have put out in decades, and the initial reception has been overwhelmingly positive. By now, the gaming community is well-acquainted with the game's iconic cover art that was shared across social media. It seems that one of them might reportedly be inspired by the poster of an Indian space epic.

Shared by @nib95_ on X (previously Twitter), the post noted that the game's key art is eerily similar to a 2019 Indian film called Misson Mangal. They went on to state that the game's cover art was revealed two years after the film, in 2021.

This spurred a conversation regarding common tropes of sci-fi cover art and whether Bethesda took a Bollywood inspiration while crafting its intergalactic video game.

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Starfield's cover art is uncannily similar to 2019 Mission Mangal

When both the posters are seen side by side, it is quite clear that there are certain striking similarities. Under a Reddit post by u/practicalnoob69 on the same topic two years ago, u/PotatoRider69 jotted them down to showcase why they looked similar and drew comparisons.

Comment byu/practicalnoob69 from discussion inIndianGaming

First and foremost, the majority agreed that a number of elements in both posters are common tropes in such posters dealing with space and sci-fi elements. But even then, others commented that the resemblance is a bit too uncanny, and Bethesda could surely have made it more unique to set it apart.

Another point that kept coming up was the fact that Starfield was announced back in 2018, and the movie came out in 2019. @nib95_ contended that the initial announcement of the game was not accompanied by the key art in question, which was only revealed in 2021.

When one commenter pointed out that it was likely the developers had created the poster well before the movie came out, @nib95_ stated that they "had apparently [spoken] about creating the key art in 2021." On the other hand, another user stated that they were intrigued by the post to watch the movie.

There's no surefire way to gauge or decide whether Starfield's poster drew inspiration from the Bollywood film. Discussions will ponder over the elements in both the cover art and base their judgments on anecdotal information. Only an official acknowledgment or confirmation can put the conversation to bed.

Starfield was finally released on September 6, 2023, after being available to Premium Edition and Constellation Edition buyers in early access since August 31. The game is currently available on Windows PC and Xbox Series X|S. You can check out our review to make up your mind on whether or not to play the game.