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Starlink buying guide: Digital versus physical explained

Starlink Battle for Atlas is out next week, and we’ve compiled how you can play the game on either Xbox One, PS4 or Switch… or combinations therein.

It’s a little complicated at times, so prepare yourselves now. All pricing is in AUD and is suggested RRP.

Starlink digital details

  • Pros: Cheaper than going physical, saves space.
  • Con: No cool toys, some components can’t be purchased separately.

When you buy Starlink digitally, you’ll gain access to digital versions of pilots, ships and weapons. They’re changed inside in-game menus while playing.

The game comes in two flavours — a Starter Pack or Deluxe Edition. The latter includes all current pilots, weapons and starships.

Individual pilot and starship packs do not appear to be sold separately.

Digital Starter Packs

  • Xbox One Starter Pack ($119.70 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 4 Starships: Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance
    • 6 Pilots: Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Levi, Razor1
    • 2 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss
  • PS4 Starter Pack ($119.95 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 4 Starships: Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance
    • 6 Pilots: Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Levi, Razor
    • 12 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss
  • Nintendo Switch Starter Pack ($119.95 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 5 Starships: Star Fox Arwing, Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance
    • 7 Pilots: Fox McCloud, Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Levi, Razor
    • 12 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss

Digital Deluxe Editions

  • Xbox One Deluxe Edition ($149.70 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 5 Starships: Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance, Nadir
    • 9 Pilots: Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Shaid, Levi, Razor, Eli, Kharl
    • 15 Weapons: Flame Thrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Nullifier, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss, Hailstorm, Alt. Meteor
  • PS4 Deluxe Edition ($149.95 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 5 Starships: Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance, Nadir
    • 9 Pilots: Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Shaid, Levi, Razor, Eli, Kharl
    • 15 Weapons: Flame Thrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Nullifier, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss, Hailstorm, Alt. Meteor
  • Nintendo Switch Deluxe Edition ($149.95 AUD), which includes digital copies of:
    • 6 Starships: Star Fox Arwing, Zenith, Neptune, Pulse, Lance, Nadir
    • 10 Pilots: Fox McCloud, Mason, Judge, Chase, Hunter, Shaid, Levi, Razor, Eli, Kharl
    • 15 Weapons: Flame Thrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Nullifier, Iron Fist, Alt. Freeze Ray, Crusher, Super Gatling, Shockwave, Alt. Gauss, Hailstorm, Alt. Meteor

Starlink physical details

  • Pros: Cool toys, kids will love interchangeable bits, trading and sharing components with friends, can be purchased separately.
  • Con: More expensive, takes up more space.

Those who buy Starlink in physical forms can change pilots, ships and weaponry by actually swapping them out on controller used on their platform of choice. Ubisoft has also stressed that the game can be beaten in its entirety using just the Starter Pack — no additional components are required.

There is a bit of overlap between some packs, so you might want to consider planning purchases with friends and swapping duplicates.

As a bonus, those who buy physical editions can also use digital representations of the components inside Starlink — the catch is that you’ll have to connect the components to the game once every seven days to prove you own them.

Physical items can be purchased from most major gaming retailers as well as the Ubi Store. Our friends at Vooks have done a fabulous job at compiling bargain pricing.

Physical Starter Packs

  • Xbox One Starter Pack ($119.95 AUD), which includes:
    • 1 Xbox One Controller Mount
    • 1 Starship: Zenith
    • 1 Pilot: Mason Rana
    • 3 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder
  • PS4 Starter Pack ($119.95 AUD), which includes:
    • 1 PS4 Controller Mount
    • 1 Starship: Zenith
    • 1 Pilot: Mason Rana
    • 3 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage, Shredder
  • Nintendo Switch Starter Pack ($119.95 AUD), which includes:
  • 1 Nintendo Switch Controller Mount
    • 1 Starship: Star Fox Arwing
    • 2 Pilots: Fox McCloud, Mason Rana
    • 2 Weapons: Flamethrower, Frost Barrage
    • Digital versions of Zenith Starship and Shredder weapon

Physical additional packs

  • Additional pilots ($12.95 AUD each): Razor, Levi, Eli, Kharl
  • Additional pilots & starships ($49.95 AUD each): Shaid & Nadir, Chase & Pulse, Judge & Neptune, Hunter & Lance, Cerberus & Razor (Gamestop exclusive in USA; EB Games exclusive in Australia), Levi & Scramble (Target exclusive in USA; Big W exclusive in Australia)
  • Additional weapons ($19.95 AUD): Crusher & Shredder, Hailstorm & Meteor, Shockwave & Gauss Cannon, Iron Fist & Freeze Ray

Physical Controller Mounts

Apart from the Switch Star Fox Arwing and Fox McCloud exclusives, every other component can be used in Starlink: Battle for Atlas across Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PS4. To be able to plug physical components into your game, though, you’ll need a Controller Mount for the platform you wish to use.

  • Xbox One Controller Mount: $29.95 AUD
  • PS4 Controller Mount: $29.95 AUD
  • Nintendo Switch Controller Mount: $29.95 AUD

Starlink: Battle for Atlas heads to Xbox One, PS4 and Switch on 16 October.


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.