It’s been said before but bears repeating – for a Bethesda Game Studios title, from the team that made classics like Oblivion, Skyrim and so on, Starfield hasn’t quite had the same impact. Even with critical praise and over 13 million players, it didn’t quite have the staying power, with player counts falling dramatically on Steam post-launch. Nevertheless, there have been hefty updates this year, especially in May, with new surface maps, game options to tailor your experience, ship interior customization and whatnot.
Following an impressive reveal for Shattered Space, which launches this year, Bethesda revealed the June update, adding some much-requested features like ammo crafting, melee weapon upgrading and higher tiers of melee weapons. However, the two biggest features were the addition of Creations, allowing mods to truly flourish with new skins, weapons, features and more, and the Trackers Alliance. The latter is essentially a bounty-hunting organization, providing access to targets you can identify with your scanner to bring in peacefully or in a hostile manner.
However, there are also dedicated missions created by Bethesda, starting with your hunt for The Starjacker. The next mission is The Vulture, which sees players embarking on a quest to locate a colony war veteran who is an excellent sniper. Given that it’s only accessible after completing The Starjacker, it would seem to be the start of a new questline (especially since there are plans to add new missions over time).
The problem is that The Vulture isn’t free. You have to pay 700 Credits, which is $7, to download it from the Creations tab. Of course, in true triple-A fashion, you can’t just buy that amount. You need to spend $10 to get 1000 Credits and then use the remaining 300 for something or the other. Completing this mission – taking seemingly 30 minutes or so – gives you two outfits and the Arboron Novastrike sniper rifle.
The outfits are nothing special, especially compared to the new Starborn Gravis Suit that Bethesda gives you for free, but the sniper rifle is cool. When it works, that is. Some players report a bug where you can’t reload the weapon. The only way to fix it is by going into your menu, equipping and then re-equipping the gun every time it has to be reloaded, so hopefully, a fix is in the works.
If you own the Premium Edition, 1000 Credits are received for free to spend in the Creation Club. Those not keen on this “content” can spend it on this Ancient Mariner Module, which includes 22 new decorations that can be crafted to spruce up your ship for 1000 Credits. A set of in-game plushies for the Constellation members to place in an outpost, home or even the ship (including the dashboard) is also available for 300 Credits.
To be fair, this isn’t a first for Bethesda, which added the Creation Club to both Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition back in 2017. It charged 500 Credits or $5 for a new Gauss Rifle skin and 300 Credits or $3 for Horse Armor (a nod to its controversial DLC for Oblivion) for the former. The latter was arguably worse, demanding 500 Credits or $5 for Survival Mode, a free feature in Fallout 4 and implemented better through fan-made mods.
Nevertheless, Starfield owners aren’t happy about the current missions. Recent Steam user reviews have gone from Mixed to Mostly Negative, with only 35 percent currently positive (and dropping). The overall rating is hovering around 60 percent positive but remains Mixed. There’s the perception that because the player numbers remain low, Bethesda is looking to cash in on those remaining by nickel and diming them.
There are still free Creations available to download, from those that turn you into Ahsoka from Star Wars (on top of all the other free additions to turn the game into The Mandalorian) to Improved Follower Behavior. The latter would see your followers matching your walking speed and attempt to be more sneaky when infiltrating. You can also expand outpost containers, access unlimited amounts of resources like Digipicks, healing and ammo or turn everything into your inventory weightless, allowing you to hold way more items than possible.
Plus, there are paid Creations from independent mod authors, like Deluxe Dynamic Boostpacks, that allow for boosting further and faster, removing fall damage, and increasing the amount of boosting in cities and settlements for 100 Credits. However, the difference is that they’re individuals trying to make some profit for their hard work, as opposed to Bethesda which charges extra on top of the $70 it’s already received for the base game (and whatever it may charge for Shattered Space).
There’s also the question of value. $7 for a single mission that gives you two outfits and a sniper rifle doesn’t sound nearly as appealing as, say, StarSim: Mining Conglomerate. For $5 or 500 Credits, you get a complete overhaul to space mining with several new mission types, two new stations, receive mail, and more interesting station management, with the promise of freighters, asteroid scanning, a voiced quest involving other mining companies and much more. Once again, your money will go towards supporting the author directly, as opposed to Bethesda, who will, well, charge the same for the next content drop, if not more.
Even if this update wasn’t going to cause player numbers to skyrocket, it could have continued building on the positive momentum from the May update. Maybe Starfield could have gone from the average 10K or 11K players on Steam to double that size with the release of more Creations. It’s hard to say but paid Creations from Bethesda, which don’t provide content with enough value, isn’t helping the game’s current public perception.
Seeing a “Mostly Negative” rating near any game on Steam will always raise questions for prospective players, even if everything else in the game – from the space combat to the exploration – may be right up their alley. What’s to stop them from pursuing something where they don’t have to worry about paying for mods or additional content, like No Man’s Sky?
Of course, the worst part of all this is that Bethesda isn’t suddenly going to change its ways. If Fallout 4, Skyrim, and even Fallout 76 (which you could at least argue receives extensive content drops for free) have proven anything, it’s that there’s money to be made with these in-game stores. Whether it’s new content or simply offering cosmetic items, the company isn’t suddenly going to say no or change its tune. Remember: This is the same studio that keeps re-releasing Skyrim because people keep paying for it.
Whatever your take on this – whether Bethesda is justified in its pricing or to support individual mod authors – there’s no denying that Starfield didn’t need the negative attention. Perhaps Shattered Space will provide some exceptional story content and deliver a worthwhile experience for those who have been here since day one.
Maybe the Creations tab will swell as the game becomes a “modder’s paradise” like director Todd Howard envisioned in June 2023. For now, at least when it comes to Bethesda’s monetization practices, it’s the same song and dance players have been tired of hearing since the Creation Club’s introduction.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
