Bethesda’s Starfield has quite reached the success levels that Microsoft had wanted from the ambitious title. Releasing to mixed reviews, a host of performance issues, and the classic Bethesda-style bugs and glitches, Starfield is a run-of-the-mill Bethesda RPG in every facet. While this can be endearing to some, there were many who expected the game to innovate more than what the final product delivered.

This sentiment has carried on post-launch, even with the first expansion for the game, Shattered Space. This was the first major expansion for Starfield, which was released in Sept. 2024. While the DLC saw praise for the story and locations, the lack of innovation in terms of gameplay or new design elements saw it fall flat in the eyes of many fans. Bethesda and Microsoft seem to be reconciling with the poor sales and mixed reception that the DLC has received, looking to inform their future decisions.

Free Updates Innovated More Than DLC
Todd Howard Wonders If Free Updates Hurt the Sales of Shattered Space

Starfield REV-8 Buggy

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After many initial complaints about Starfield, Bethesda seemed set on making it up to players who had skipped out or dropped the game. Many quality-of-life updates followed the game’s release, with performance getting much better (after director Todd Howard initially blamed players’ PCs), better ways to track quests and bounties, and an improved map of locations. The biggest quality-of-life update came more recently, however, as prior to the launch of Shattered Space, Bethesda added the REV-8 to the game.

The REV-8 was added to Starfield after complaints that many of the planets in the game felt too empty and that forcing players to traverse on foot took up a lot of time doing almost nothing except walking. Players wanted more dynamic exploration of planets, rather than just walking from point A to point B. This addition contrasts how Bethesda originally intended for players to explore planets, with Todd Howard citing that players were meant to experience exploration on foot to take in the unique nature of all of the planets. Players, however, still felt that the traversal was too empty and uninteresting without a vehicle.

This addition of buggies to the game for free showed that Bethesda has been listening to feedback from players, wanting to give a better experience. However, with reception for Shattered Space falling short of Microsoft and Bethesda’s expectations, leadership in both companies is starting to wonder if free updates like the REV-8 were the right move. One of the biggest criticisms of the expansion is that there are no significant enhancements or additions to the core gameplay of Starfield. This has left the companies considering withholding additions like the REV-8 to use as a way to give players more of a reason to purchase DLC.

Bethesda Is Reconsidering Future Expansion Content
Leadership Wants to Include Gameplay Innovations in Expansions

Starfield player looking up at a gravitational formation

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Without big additions to gameplay, player retention and gaining interest among potential new players has been a problem for Starfield. In an interview with Game File, head of Xbox Phil Spencer spoke about Todd Howard’s thoughts on adding buggies before Shattered Space:

Todd and I were talking about Shattered Space. Starfield is a game I put a ton of hours into and really love, but they’ve had this thing where they’ve added features throughout the year and then they had an expansion. I think some of the feedback on the expansion is: ‘We wanted more features.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, should we have waited to put buggies out?’ And so, I think you’re trying to tune both development effort and the impact of the expansion. And I think there will always be a balance to managing the game month to month. But not every game will do expansions.

It certainly makes sense that adding a significant gameplay improvement such as buggies would be a huge selling point for an expansion, however, it does not mean that it is the solution to Bethesda’s problems. In an age where players are constantly skeptical of games releasing DLC and microtransactions, adding a free update in response to player criticism builds some trust back between a developer and its fans. Leaving a massive feature for an expansion will make players consider if developers are purposely withholding innovative features to potentially monetize the solution to player grievances.

It also does not guarantee that players will purchase the expansion in the first place. While big gameplay features can sway some players into buying an expansion, there needs to be investment in the base game to begin with. A free update designed to bring players back to the game could be a reason for those players to become invested and want to purchase an expansion in the first place. There is a very good chance that without adding the REV-8 to the game, the player base could have been smaller, leading to even worse sales.

The reception to Shattered Space falls in line with a lot of what fans have said about Starfield since the game’s initial release. While the expansion gives players more of what Bethesda does best, with some interesting questlines, choices, and environments to explore, there is not enough to differentiate it from the base game. Shattered Space is not the only expansion for Starfield, as there is much more content yet to come for the game, and Bethesda will likely be using this reception to inform future decisions.