Bethesda has broken its silence about Starfield, its highly awaited game, promising to share more details about “exciting things” planned for the game, amid player dissatisfaction over lack of communication.
This assurance comes as part of a recent statement on Starfield Update 1.15.222, currently available on beta on the Steam platform. The update follows significant frustration from players, particularly after Starfield was noticeably missing from the Xbox Games Showcase in the same month, where other Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 were discussed but without any new information on DLC, or potential expansions or even a possible release on the PlayStation 5. Many in the community viewed this absence as a “final straw.”
Bethesda’s statement, though brief and somewhat general, was made in anticipation of Gamescom. It mentioned that the developer is “continuing work on future updates and will share more about the exciting things we have planned for Starfield in the coming months.” Players are interpreting this as a positive sign that there will be continued support, such as the second promised Starfield expansion, and potentially a port to PlayStation 5, following the path of other successful titles.
Launched in September 2023, Starfield is Bethesda’s first new game in 25 years and, while it has garnered a significant player base of, its reception has not been as favorable as some of its other notable franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Despite this, the game has reached a player count of 15 million. The “Shattered Space” update released in September 2024, currently has a “mostly negative” review from users on the same platform.
Despite mixed reviews, the company has reasserted its dedication to the title. As recently as June 2024, it reaffirmed its support and mentioned that at least one more story expansion is on the way after “Shattered Space.” In an interaction with MrMattyPlays on YouTube, Todd Howard from Bethesda Game Studios expressed the goal of continuing with an annual story expansion “for hopefully a very long time.”
Bethesda’s recent reassurance to the community also coincides with some significant restructuring. Following layoffs that affected its London branch and ZeniMax Online Studios, and the cancellation of an MMORPG that was in the pipeline, there was some unease. A veteran head of one of the studios stepped down during this time.
The latest Starfield Update 1.15.222 beta on Steam, while not a significant feature update, does bring some tweaks and fixes. The details in the update notes are as follows:
Minor improvements to the format and display in Creations menus.
Addressing an issue causing Extreme Temperature gear to display incorrectly.
Minor improvements to the sorting in the Missions Menu.
General crash and stability fixes.
For those interested in experiencing the Starfield Beta on Steam, the process involves a few straightforward actions: navigating to Starfield in the Steam Library, right-clicking to select “Properties,” choosing the “Betas” tab, opting into the “[beta]” build, and waiting for the new version to download before launching the updated game.
