Massive Starfield update hits Steam beta, but still no word on DLC
Smiles, frowns, and scanning updates all arrive in the latest Starfield update for Steam beta, but it’s not the DLC everyone was hoping for.
Following rumors of the Starfield Shattered Space DLC arriving in the near future, the latest Starfield update heralds silence from Bethesda as to when their first story expansion is set for launch. Many eagle-eyed viewers spotted recently on SteamDB that an “Unknown App 2721670” was uploaded to Starfield on February 28, 2024. The unknown app in question remains hidden to the public, leading many fans to theorize that the Starfield Shattered Space DLC was readying itself for launch. That said, the March 6, 2024 update includes an absolute mountain of bug fixes, improvements, and tweaks.
Unfortunately, the latest Starfield update has arrived without any news confirming Bethesda’s plans for their first DLC package. Instead, a considerable number of changes and bug fixes have become available to the Steam beta branch, though the in-game maps or “travel improvements” that were promised prior to 2024 remain elusive.
It might not be the Starfield update everyone was hoping for (the DLC being the big prize), and may not be enough to reverse Starfield’s declining player numbers, but facial expressions are among the many improvements introduced in the latest Starfield patch. Now, when in photo mode, you can select which expression your player character displays instead of the passive/neutral/eternally bored expression they’re typically saddled with.
It’s a small improvement, and one that should really have been present for the Starfield release date, but Bethesda is at least staying true to their promise for regular updates. This latest patch in particular is so huge we can’t possibly get into all the details here. So, for the nitty gritty mission, outpost, and minor improvements, check out the full patch notes on the Bethesda release.
Among the changes, setting course on a mission objective will now set that Starfield mission as your main quest, and you can now harvest resources (flora) while in the scanner view. Honestly, the ability to harvest plants while scanning is a bit of an odd change, as simply harvesting the plant outside of the scanner view rewards the player with progress towards a full scan anyway.
The big change everyone seems to be waiting for is the release of the official modding tools: the Creation Kit for Starfield. Unfortunately, Bethesda has yet to confirm an exact date for that particular feature. Once they do, you can be sure to find all the latest details here, so make sure you follow Starfield Db on Google News to get the notification.
What do you think of the latest Starfield update? If Bethesda can maintain this pace, do you think more people will return to the Settled Systems? Let us know your thoughts over in the Starfield forum, and let us know if there are any Starfield bugs you need assistance with.