Starfield's Whispering Promises: Bethesda Hints at Future Updates, But Are We Actually Listening?
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Bethesda's finally acknowledged *Starfield*'s existence, promising future updates but remaining frustratingly vague; the community's cautiously optimistic, but let's face it, we've all been burned by empty promises before, haven't we?
Right, so Bethesda's finally chirped up about *Starfield*. After a period of radio silence that had even the most die-hard fans muttering darkly into their gaming rigs, they've issued a statement. Now, before we all start throwing confetti and celebrating the Second Coming of Space Exploration Games, let's have a closer look, shall we?
According to a recent article by IGN South Africa, Bethesda posted a brief-but-vague announcement on Steam accompanying *Starfield* Update 1.15.222. The gist? They're "continuing work on future updates" and will share details on the "exciting things" planned in the coming months. Sound familiar? It's the kind of boilerplate promise that could mean anything from a game-changing expansion to a slightly shinier texture pack.
The lack of *Starfield* news at the Xbox Games Showcase last month was, shall we say, a bit of a sore point. *The Elder Scrolls Online* and *Fallout 76* got their moment in the sun, but *Starfield* was conspicuous by its absence. No DLC announcements, no whisper of a PlayStation 5 port… nothing. It's like turning up to a party only to find out you weren't on the guest list. Awkward.
Of course, the *Starfield* community has been vocal about its dissatisfaction. The game launched in September 2023 as Bethesda's first new IP in yonks (25 years, apparently). While it hit 15 million players, it didn't quite capture the hearts and minds of gamers in the same way *Fallout* or *The Elder Scrolls* have. The Shattered Space expansion, released a year later, has garnered a 'mostly negative' user review rating on Steam. Ouch.
The big question now is whether Bethesda will stick with *Starfield* for the long haul. Todd Howard did say in an interview with MrMattyPlays that they're aiming for annual story expansions for "hopefully a very long time." But as we all know, plans can change faster than you can say "procedurally generated content." Especially given the recent layoffs at Bethesda's parent company, Microsoft.
The new update (1.15.222) is currently in beta on Steam and includes:
* Minor improvements to format and display in Creations menus. * An address of an issue that could cause that Extreme Temperature gear to appear incorrectly. * Minor improvements to sorting in the Missions Menu. * General crash and stability fixes.
Hardly earth-shattering stuff, is it? (Or should I say, star-shattering?)
So, what does it all mean? Well, on the one hand, Bethesda is acknowledging *Starfield* and promising future content. That's good. On the other hand, the details are vague, the update is incremental, and the shadow of Microsoft's restructuring looms large.
I reckon we need to take Bethesda's promises with a healthy dose of skepticism. But hey, maybe they'll surprise us. Maybe they've got something genuinely exciting up their sleeves. (A proper space pirate expansion, perhaps? I can dream, can't I?)
In the meantime, I'll be keeping my eye on *Starfield*. Because even in a galaxy of infinite possibilities, there's always room for a bit of cautious optimism. And a healthy dose of irreverent observation.
Tags: Starfield, Bethesda, Gaming News, Xbox, PC Gaming
Original article: IGN South Africa