Game dev explains why Starfield NPCs’ creepy smiles look so “fake”

A game developer has explained why the smiles on non-playable characters in Starfield look so creepy and fake.

Bethesda Game Studios often faces criticism for how human character models look in its games. It’s a conversation in online forums that even predates Skyrim’s late 2011 release, with many hoping The Elder Scrolls V would fix the issue. To the chagrin of fans, it didn’t.

Starfield marks a step up, but only to a certain degree. The game may have just hit store shelves, yet players are already poking fun at Starfield’s facial animations. Comments in one popular Reddit thread on the matter joked that an NPC looked like they were high, for example.

Not to mention the creepy smiles. The smiling faces of characters in Bethesda’s newest RPG have become the stuff of nightmares for some. One industry veteran and tech artist took it upon themselves to explain why Starfield characters have such unsettling grins.

Game dev shares why Starfield’s NPCs have creepy-looking smiles

Delaney King, a character and tech artist with credits on Dragon Age and God of War, pointed out that the smiling issue in Starfield comes down to the “orbicularis oculi muscle not contracting to give a ‘Duchenne smile.'”

In a Twitter thread, the freelance game dev explained that if this particular muscle doesn’t contract when a person smiles – because it’s responsible for voluntary closure of the eyelid – they give off the appearance of a “fake” or “liar’s” smile.

The memed Starfield creepiness is, thus, a result of an NPC not appearing genuine when they flash their pearly whites. Starfield characters also lack the use of their zygomaticus major muscle, a facial expression muscle connected to the cheekbone that pulls at the corner of the mouth.

Further in the thread, King used Anthony Starr’s portrayal of Homelander in The Boys to demonstrate why this is all so off-putting.

Why Bethesda’s animators have seemingly yet to solve this long-standing issue is anyone’s guess. But here’s to hoping that whenever The Elder Scrolls 6 finally comes out, it won’t feature a repeat of Starfield’s unsettling NPC smiles.