Starfield romance guide: Who can I make out with in space?

Starfield will feature multiple NPC romance options, despite the fact that Bethesda doesn't exactly have an exceptional track record when it comes to spinning a smoldering love story in its past games. It was possible to propose to someone by accident in Skyrim by wearing the wrong necklace around them, and the only companion I actually remember giving my heart to in Fallout 4 was Dogmeat. 

Even so, it's something we've come to expect in our single-player RPG fare these days. So Todd Howard and company are giving it another honest try. And it sounds like they want it to be a bit more complex than going straight from adventuring companions to getting married in front of a bunch of random villagers and occasionally a vampire for some reason.

Who is romanceable in Starfield?

We know there will be four romanceable companions, and they're all members of the exploratory Constellation organization that forms the central part of the main story. 

Sam Coe

At this point, only one of them—the ace pilot space cowboy Sam Coe—has actually been confirmed as romanceable with some kinda corny but sweet dialogue in a bit of trailer footage where he proclaims that the only thing he's ever really loved is you. 

We also have confirmation, sadly, that the robot Vasco is not romanceable, so we'll have to look to modders to take us where Bethesda wasn't brave enough to tread. Considering I can hook up with a bear in Baldur's Gate 3, they really need to step up their game here.

That leaves three other potential romances, which we can fairly confidently narrow down based on what we know so far. Other than Sam, the other confirmed major party members who we know are members of Constellation include faction leader Sarah Morgan, an ex-soldier, and new recruit Barrett, a talented engineer. 

I'd be willing to bet my best ship that these two will be romance options. And in the interest of balance, since we have two dudes already, I'd expect at least one more woman or perhaps a nonbinary person to be the fourth. There are some Constellation members who could fit that bill who haven't been confirmed as full-fledged story companions yet, such as the science officer Noel.

It's also worth noting that Bethesda only mentioned four fully-scripted romance options. That leaves the airlock open to have less dialogue-heavy flings with other characters, such as the many recruitable characters who are not part of the main story. But we'll have to see.

How does romance work in Starfield?

We don't have a lot of specific details on how to begin or progress a romance yet, but Todd Howard has expressed that he wants to give relationships a bit more depth and realism than in past RPGs. 

It's always bugged me, personally, that even the likes of BioWare tend to treat relationships as a linear quest that unlocks a terrible sex cutscene and doesn't portray any of the more nuanced dynamics of a real romantic partnership. Howard mentioned potentially having situations where your partner might get mad at you for a while because of a decision you made, but with the possibility of patching it up in the end. 

Whether these will be specific, scripted moments, or something that can happen dynamically, we haven't been told yet. It certainly would get boring to travel around the galaxy with your paramour and have the only confirmation of your love be some cheesy, repetitive voice lines now and then.