Key Takeaways
- The upcoming Starfield: Shattered Space DLC will add new lore centered around House Va’ruun.
- During a deep dive, one fan discovered a Chunks fast food restaurant on the supposedly secret home world of House Va’ruun.
- The presence of Chunks raises questions about the secrecy and potential oversight in the game design.
With the upcoming Starfield: Shattered Space DLC expansion on the verge of release, some fans have made a baffling observation about the home planet of the game’s mysterious House Va’ruun faction. The unusual detail first appeared in a preview for the DLC uploaded by developer Bethesda to the official Starfield YouTube channel.
With just days to go until Starfield: Shattered Space launches on September 30, 2024, both new players and current fans of Bethesda’s space-based open-world RPG seem to be engaging with the game again in droves. Whether they’re there to enter the Settled Systems for the first time, or coming back to do some preparatory work before diving into the DLC, players should find much that’s new about Shattered Space. The game promises a new, cohesive adventure involving a largely unexplored aspect of Starfield‘s lore: House Va’ruun. A secretive faction hidden in the depths of space and usually only emerging as antagonists in other missions, House Va’ruun is a theocratic group following the cult-like religion of the Great Serpent. Shattered Space will bring House Va’ruun to light by tasking players with exploring their never-before-seen home world of Va’ruun’kai.
It’s on Va’ruun’kai and Bethesda’s deep dive into Starfield: Shattered Space‘s gameplay and atmosphere that Reddit community member SpectreFire noticed a small, but funny detail about the planet. In the footage of locations around Va’ruun’kai, a planet that is supposedly unknown to all but House Va’ruun’s members, they noticed that one of the buildings seems to be hosting a Chunks restaurant. One of the premiere fast food locations in Starfield, Chunks is an active corporate presence in the Settled Systems, providing dubiously tasty cube-shaped meals in a variety of flavors.
Starfield Player Spots a Chunks Location on House Va’ruun Home World
The presence of Chunks on Va’ruun’kai seems to put the lie to the notion that no one else in the Settled Systems knows where House Va’ruun comes from. After all, Chunks is based within the Settled Systems, and would surely have to supply or contact a restaurant operating under its branding. In the Starfield base game, House Va’ruun is completely enigmatic and impossible to join, preserving the faction’s sense of mystery. Having the galactic equivalent of a McDonald’s on their home world seems to puncture that sense of mystery.
Players were amused by the observation, wondering whether the tenets of the Great Serpent allow for Va’ruun’s followers to consume chunks like everyone else in the galaxy. Some other commenters pointed out that it’s entirely possible that Chunks could predate House Va’ruun’s seclusion, and simply be operating independently in the wake of the faction’s intentional self-exile from galactic society.
Assuming that the Chunks restaurant is intentionally present as part of the handcrafted world of Starfield: Shattered Space, it could be an interesting tidbit that leads to further stories in the Settled Systems. Of course, if it’s a level design oversight on the part of Bethesda, that could also function as an amusing aside, considering the company’s reputation for amusing unintentional goofs.
