Starfield's sun doesn't shine on AMD graphics cards

Starfield
(Image credit: Bethesda Game Studios)

Starfield players have discovered that the game doesn't render the sun if you have a Radeon AMD graphics card. 

Despite being partnered with AMD Radeon, it looks like there's a bug that is causing a small, but noticeable graphical issue pertaining to several of the game's suns (via PC Gamer). One player took to Reddit to bring attention to the problem, explaining that if you travel to the dayside of any moon without an atmosphere, you'll find that the sun isn't shining at all. 

User Yoraxx showed photos of what the sun should look like on a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card compared to the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. The Nvidia card demonstrates how the sun should be shining and it looks beautiful, but with the AMD card, there's absolutely nothing to be seen.

Dear AMD Card User, from r/Starfield

The player mentioned that this issue also applies to planets with an atmosphere, showing even more in-game screenshots of how sun should be rendered. For AMD cards, from the planets' surfaces you'll see an illuminated skybox, but no sun. 

"Your game does NOT render the sun," they said. "There will be light and shadow effects, but you're out of luck to ever see the sun, no matter the planet or moon with/without atmosphere."

Although it's unconfirmed at this time, they noted that this could be a problem for some newer AMD 6000 and 7000 Series GPUs. Several users have responded explaining that they too have experienced the issue, with one player saying: "People, please upvote this post, so that Bethesda can see it and hopefully deliver a fix in the near future... It sucks that so many didn't even notice this, it's a total immersion-killer for me and for many others."

Another user has said if the bug doesn't get resolved any time soon, they could always wait for a mod. 

Game director Todd Howard has confirmed that the game will receive official mod support sometime next year, but in the meantime, players are already busy building some impressive mods right now. 

For more, check out our guide for the best graphics cards and if you're looking for something to test with your current GPU, here's our best PC games of 2023

Read more
Image of Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs
AMD RX 9070 could struggle to compete with Nvidia 50-series GPUs according to latest tech demo
PhysX 5.0
Nvidia retiring PhysX for its RTX 5000 GPUs has made some gamers furious - but I don't think it's a complete dealbreaker
Image of Naoe in AC Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows is hands-down one of the most beautiful PC ports I've ever seen
Illustration of a generic PC graphics card
AMD's decision to make FSR 4 exclusive to its new GPUs is a disappointing compromise in a bid to beat Nvidia - I hope it's worth it
The Nvidia and AMD logos clashing with lightning bolts around them.
Nvidia's RTX 5080 has dethroned AMD's RX 7900 XTX at the same price – but good luck finding one
Screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with TechRadar Gaming @8K logo
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at 8K – a fitting swansong for the Nvidia RTX 4090, or a sign that we need the RTX 5090?
Latest in Consoles & PC
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
Nintendo Music teaser art
Nintendo Music expands its library with songs from Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Tetris
Image of Naoe in AC Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows is hands-down one of the most beautiful PC ports I've ever seen
Image of AC Shadows cover art & Steam Deck
It's not perfect, but Assassin's Creed Shadows' performance is impressive - it runs smoothly on the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally
Steam Deck OLED in limited edition white color
With a single update SteamOS could turbocharge handheld PCs – here's how
Samus Aran leaping through space
Metroid Prime 4 tipped to be at the heart of April's Nintendo Switch 2 deep-dive
Latest in News
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
cheap Nintendo Switch game deals sales
Nintendo didn't anticipate that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 'going to be the juggernaut' for the Nintendo Switch when it was ported to the console, according to former employees
Three angles of the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 laptop above a desk
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review roundup – should you buy Apple's new lightweight laptop?
Witchbrook
Witchbrook, the life-sim I've been waiting years for, finally has a release window and it's sooner than you think
Amazon Echo Smart Speaker
Amazon is experimenting with renaming Echo speakers to Alexa speakers, and it's about time
Shigeru Miyamoto presents Nintendo Today app
Nintendo Today smartphone app is out now on iOS and Android devices – and here's what it does