90%
Highly Likely
A few hours ago, several insiders and content creators started sharing rumblings about what's next for Starfield.
Bethesda Game Studios has been very quiet publicly when it comes to its new sci-fi intellectual property, beyond teasing a new story DLC, improvements to space gameplay and brand new systems. It's no big secret that despite the initial boast of being the 'biggest launch ever' for the studio (with the crucial help of Game Pass subscribers trying it out), enthusiasm around Starfield dried out fairly quickly. One of the developers who worked on the game before leaving the studio, Bruce Nesmith, recently claimed that space is inherently boring, and where Bethesda really failed to capture the interest of its usual fans is on the planets, which didn't offer enough variety in creatures or encounters to be interesting.
Regardless of whether you agree with his assessment on why, the fact remains, and the first expansion, Shattered Space, also failed to improve the game's overall reception. Now, though, it sounds like there might be interesting additions on the way.
YouTuber JuiceHead confirmed that he attended an event recently where Bethesda Game Studios showed what's next for Starfield, and that he will discuss it in due time (when the embargo expires). Another content creator, Luke Stephens, said he talked with other people, and he heard the following:
Things are being improved but from what I'm hearing this probably isn't a Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 scale update. BGS do have a number of improvements coming that are specifically aimed at the most common complaints like load screens (these have been data mined too), but you should not expect them to have magically changed what the game is.
However, WindowsCentral's Jez Corden later published an article stating that, based on the information he collected, it will be a Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 style update. At least, that's what some of the attendees are swearing, while others are a bit more conservative.
Getting into the meat of the actual improvements, Starfield's space flight should feel more seamless (presumably with the removal of the many loading screens), and other systems related to space travel and exploration are allegedly being refined, too, thanks to improvements made to the underlying Creation Engine, which will remain the studio's engine choice for future projects. Moreover, as previously rumored, the game is launching on PlayStation 5 next year; Corden adds that it will also be released for the Nintendo Switch 2, which is somewhat surprising since it is quite CPU-intensive, like most games released by Bethesda.
The Windows Central report concludes by suggesting that these will be the final content updates for the game, with the studio already stretched thin between The Elder Scrolls VI, the new Fallout projects (presumably Fallout 3 and possibly New Vegas remasters), and its ongoing support of Fallout 76.
Thus, much of the fate of the Starfield IP will rest on the new updates and DLC. If it can reignite interest in the game like Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 and Phantom Liberty did for CD Projekt RED's game, then Starfield might have a future. Otherwise, there's a non-trivial chance that Bethesda will focus on Elder Scrolls and Fallout for the foreseeable future.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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