This Starfield countdown is dropping 1 sandwich every 5 minutes all the way to launch day, and things are already getting weird

One streamer and dev has found the perfect way to mark the days until the launch of Starfield: with an online countdown that deposits one digital sandwich into an ever-growing pile every five minutes until the game is out.

The Starfield Sandwich Countdown, available at starfieldsandwich.com, is a simple Unity program that runs in a browser window. It features a table inside a spaceship with a window looking out at the stars, and an increasingly voluminous pile of sandwiches. The countdown clock is pointing to the Starfield Early Access date on August 31, so if you're waiting for the regular edition just imagine the sandwich pile getting even bigger.

The head of this project is a streamer who goes by Blurbs, working with an artist called Anik Deysigns. In a brief clip explaining the concept, Blurbs said that "certain weird things might start happening on the ship as we get closer to release." And, indeed, there's a malevolent-looking portal - or perhaps an Oblivion gate - growing in the ship's window. The last time I checked, the Adoring Fan was also hovering outside the window, trying to get my attention. 

If you're wondering what the deal is with the sandwiches, well, it's based on one developer's anecdote during the Starfield Direct earlier this year, when producer Jamie Malloray revealed that she likes to play the game by stealing sandwiches and stashing them in a dedicated sandwich cargo hold. It instantly became a meme among the community - and a pretty notable justification for Starfield's 30FPS frame rate cap on consoles.

The concept of the Starfield Sandwich Countdown is so fun that even Xbox is showing its approval. The official Xbox account tweeted "Can we dive in there? Like a ball pit?" Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg tweeted "Cannot think of a more appropriate way to countdown to launch."

If you can't wait, check out our guide to Starfield release times, and if you're playing on PC, get ready with our guide to the Starfield system requirements.