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Starfield updates and patches

Considering Starfield's size, a slew of Starfield updates and Starfield patches will be released frequently, so we're cataloging all of them.

Starfield updates and patches

With every Starfield update you can expect bugfixes, patches, and the accidental creation of new bugs. Fortunately, Bethesda releases regular Starfield updates and patch notes, many of which have resolved outstanding Starfield bugs and glitches that have appeared since the Starfield release date.

We’ve gathered every Starfield patch note into a singular location so you can see what Bethesda has introduced, fixed, and removed over Starfield’s life so you can see what’s changed, and so you can roll your game back should an update introduce additional bugs, or render your carefully curated Starfield mods inoperable. You should always expect a delay of a few days minimum between a Starfield patch, and an updated version of the Starfield SFSE framework, which is essential to many mods.

Found a bug that Bethesda hasn’t fixed yet? Head over to our Starfield forum and see if anyone else has found a fix. Alternatively, check out our curated Starfield mods page to see if the modding community and the highly-recommended Starfield Community Patch has found the solution you need.

Starfield hotfix from March 26, 2024

Bethesda announced a surprise hotfix via Twitter, introducing two specific bugfixes to the game:

  • Action poses in the Starfield photo mode have been restored to working order
  • NPCs getting caught in an infinite dialog loop should no longer occur

Unfortunately for Bethesda, the rather small update prompted a small amount of backlash from Twitter users who wondered why such a small update was even announced, and why there was still no news on the promised Creation Kit 2.

Starfield update 1.10.30 patch notes

On March 6, 2024, Bethesda released the Starfield patch 1.10.30 which, besides introducing facial expressions to the Starfield photo mode, was also the largest update Bethesda had released since launch.

The update was absolutely collosal, bringing hundreds of fixes to bugged artwork, gameplay faults, numerous graphical issues, Starfield outpost bugs, and an eye-boggling number of Starfield mission errors.

That and more were fixed, which you can read about in the full patch notes, though many fans questioned if this update, despite its scale, was enough to combat the declining Starfield player count.

Starfield update 1.9.67 patch notes

The 1.9.67.0 patch chiefly introduced FSR 3 support to Starfield. Previously, Starfield only had native FSR 2 support, and actually launched without NVIDIA DLSS support until the 1.8.86 patch.

Alongside FSR 3 support, Bethesda also introduced support for Intel XeSS (Intel Xe Super Sampling).

A few other bug fixes and improvements were included with the 1.9.67.0 release, though not nearly as many as previous updates.

Stability

  • Changed how FormIDs are freed when loading saves. This should improve stability for saves that have visited many locations.
  • Fixed a crash that could happen when making changes to the ship that required all items to be moved to the cargo bay in the Ship Builder menu.

Miscellaneous

  • Reverted a change that caused the data menu to open when taking screenshots with F12 (PC)
  • Fixed an issue causing the resolution scale to reset to 1.0 when switching from Fullscreen to Windowed mode when using DLSS. (PC)

Starfield update 1.9.51 patch notes

Following a brief period on the Steam beta branch, Starfield update 1.9.47.0 was released to wider PC and Xbox players as patch 1.9.51.0, bringing with it several additional bugfixes and improvements. The 1.9.51.0 update heralded significant lighting changes for all Starfield players, and could be described as Bethesda turning over a new leaf given the noticeable improvement that patch 1.9.51.0 made.

With the patch notes of 1.9.51.0 being nearly identical to 1.9.47.0, here’s what 1.9.51.0 added to the beta branch:

  • Addressed a crash that could occur when changing from Fullscreen to Windowed mode.

Starfield update 1.9.47 patch notes

Originally intended for release on January 17, 2024, this Starfield update was delayed to January 18, 2024 due to an “issue” discovered by the developers prior to the patch’s deployment.

The Starfield update 1.9.47.0 was the largest bug fix Bethesda had released since the game’s launch in September 2023. The update took another swing at the “pet asteroid” issue which patch 1.8.88 failed to resolve in its entirety.

The full patch notes are quite extensive, and have been broken down into several categories:

Full Starfield 1.9.47.0 patch notes:

Animation

  • Fixed player character’s eyes remaining closed instead of blinking in third person view.
  • Addressed rare cases where small animation pops could be seen in third person.

Creatures and enemies

  • Fixed incorrectly invisible creatures on some planets.
  • Fixed an issue that could occur on some enemies causing them to stand instead of falling to the ground.

Crew and companions

  • Fixed crew members and companions positioning near the cockpit after fast traveling to the ship.
  • Companions: Fixed a possible control-lock when talking to a companion without entering a dialogue while simultaneously trying to exit the ship.

General

  • Fixed an issue that prevented Windows users saving if their username featured certain characters (PC).
  • Fixed rare save game corruptions on PC (MSS and Steam).
  • Fixed an issue that could lead to a control lock or a crash after loading a quicksave while in the targeting mode.
  • Fixed player marker following the camera on the surface map.
  • Fixed a rare issue that could prevent access to the main menu on when prompted to “Press any button to Start” (Xbox).
  • Body type should no longer reset to default when loading a Starborn save from the main menu.
  • Fixed flickering on Neon’s Trade Tower elevator panel.
  • Improved the appearance of the Ryujin Kiosk material during nighttime.
  • Fixed rare issue with how Cydonia’s panel could display the hours without incident.
  • Added Optimizations to cloud syncing of save games (MSS/Xbox).
  • Improved how crowds behave when desired target is reserved.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause airlock doors to sometimes appear floating in sky when arriving at locations.
  • Fixed unintended text appearing on the shipbuilder’s UI.
  • Fixed game session not properly resuming from shutdown in Energy Save mode (Xbox).
  • Various stability improvements.

Graphics

  • Improved widescreen support (32:9, 21:9 and 16:10).
  • Added support for stars displaying sun disk geometry.
  • Shadows can now be seen on planet rings from planet surface.
  • Improved eyes and skin on crowd characters.
  • Improved reflection on water.
  • Improved contact shadows on character skin (Xbox and PC Medium/High/Ultra).
  • Improved contact shadows on character cloth (PC High/Ultra).
  • Improved contact shadows on first person (PC Ultra).
  • Improved lighting in character generation menu.
  • Reduced the appearance of some minor artifacts during cutscene camera transitions.
  • Fixed flickering on a number of VFX (Sandstorm, corrosive liquid pools, waterfall).
  • Fixed a rare issue where the camera would lock while in handscanner mode whenever watching flying fauna (Xbox).
  • Fixed potential control lock when opening a game menu a moment before triggering a dialogue with another character.
  • Addressed various shadow popping, flickering and artifact issues.
  • Improved the visibility of the sun’s lens flare during sunrise and sunset.
  • Fixed a rare issue where foam or grime would not show up.
  • Fixed rare flickering VFX that could occur in space (Xbox Series S).
  • Fixed rare hair flickering (Xbox Series X/S).
  • Fixed occasional flicker on digiframes and TV screens.
  • Adjusted the appearance of bloom when activating the handscanner.
  • Improved the appearance of clouds during weather transitions.
  • Fixed rare cases where alignment of grass and wind could appear disconnected.
  • Reduced bloom intensity effect while motion blur is active (PC).
  • Addressed issues with concealment effect not always applying when using the handscanner.
  • Fixed visible edge of the ocean in the distance when seen from a very high point of view.
  • Fixed rare white flickering dots around characters’ hair during cut scenes.
  • Fixed a readability issue in the Starmap when using large menu font mode.
  • Fixed inventory menu occasionally failing to generate previews when using a mouse (PC).
  • Fixed a brief Depth of Field issue that sometimes occurred when aiming, alt-tabbing or leaving a dialogue screen.
  • Fixed occasional lighting transition issues after loading or exiting a location.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause intermittent bands to appear in distance fog.
  • Fixed a rare issue that could cause fog color to appear inconsistent.
  • Fixed a rare issue that could cause rocks to disappear near the player on the surface of a planet.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when switching to DLSS with dynamic resolution active (PC).
  • Fixed flickering and delayed shadows sometimes occurring after unpausing the game.
  • Fixed various FSR2 and DLSS artifacts (noise, black dots, ghosting).
  • Fixed flickering when using the handscanner with DLSS enabled.
  • Fixed initial lighting conditions when landing on a planet.
  • Improved lighting at 73 locations.
  • Fixed various geometry, texture, and ghosting issues.

Outposts

  • Fixed a rare missing terrain issue that could occur after fast traveling to an outpost near New Atlantis.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause bulldozed objects to reappear when returning to an outpost.
  • Fixed an issue that caused hazard damage to remain even when the hazard was removed by bulldozing in outposts.
  • Fixed an issue where outpost’s cargo links would be removed from the terminal list if connected, disconnected, then reconnected to another cargo link during the cargo ship landing sequence.
  • Fixed an issue where weapon cases built by the player in an Outpost would populate with weapons and ammo after reloading the game.

Powers

  • Fixed a rare issue that could cause the Phased Time power to remain enabled.
  • Fixed the extreme speed that could occur in zero G when using the Phased Time power.
  • Solar Flare Power now accounts for critical hits.

Quests and random encounters

  • Absolute Power: Fixed missing slate in the safe preventing from completing the optional objective “Locate Evidence to Extort Ayumi Komiko”.
  • Background Checks: Fixed possible control-lock that could occur if caught by security.
  • Derelict Ship: Fixed an issue preventing the player from reaching the pilot seat if they did not have access to advanced locks.
  • Drinks on the House: Fixed rare occurrence where the door to Sub 12 could remain locked.
  • Echoes of the Past: Fixed Delgado getting stuck at bottom of stairs during “Continue Exploring the Lock” that could occur if The Lock was left during Delgado’s history dialogue.
  • Echoes of the Past: Resolved an issue that could cause Mathis’ and Delgado’s guns to be invisible.
  • Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue that could cause data transfer to not start after placing the Data Core.
  • Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where the docking prompt would be missing on the Legacy ship if the player undocked with the Legacy and then reloaded a save before having started the mission.
  • Executive Level: Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on a chair in the Ryujin Industries HQ conference room.
  • Failure to Communicate: Fixed an issue that prevented the player from finishing the quest if they downed all the members of the defense pact (Alban Lopez, Jacquelyn Lemaire, and Chanda Banda).
  • Further Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare crash that could occur when trying to dock with The Eye.
  • Groundpounder: Fixed an issue where the door to Lezama could sometimes be locked if the player left the location during the quest and came back later.
  • Hostile Intelligence: Fixed blocked doors in the Steam Tunnels room where the Terrormorph transformation occurs.
  • Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare issue that could prevent the quest from starting after completing The Old Neighborhood.
  • Into the Unknown: Fixed a rare issue where a Temple location might not populate when receiving the “Go to” objective.
  • Legacy’s End: Fixed an issue that could prevent interacting with Delgado when he was behind the glass inside in the command center of The Key.
  • Legacy’s End: Fixed a debris pile where to player could become stuck while trying to reach the Mess Hall.
  • Missed Beyond Measure: Fixed a dialogue between Sarah and Walter not playing at The Lodge.
  • No Sudden Moves: Fixed companions not following player during personal quests.
  • On the Run: Fixed various issues related to Mei Devine becoming inaccessible the objective updated to “Listen to Mei Devine’s Introduction”.
  • On The Run: Fixed a possible control lock when sitting at the table to talk to Jade MacMillan.
  • One Small Step: Fixed a rare issue that could prevent Lin / Heller from exiting the airlock.
  • Operation Starseed: Fixed a bad view that could occur if the Beagle was boarded after a long idle.
  • Power From Beyond: Fixed an issue that caused missing Starborn temples and scanner disturbances that could prevent obtaining all Starborn powers from that universe.
  • Rough Landings: Resolved an issue that could occur during the “Meet up with Milena Axelrod” objective that could prevent ships from appearing at the desired location.
  • Shadows in Neon: Fixed an issue that could occur when repeatedly using the door to Jaylen Pryce’s office before he progressed to Neon Core.
  • Supra Et Ultra: Fixed a control lock that could occur when entering the Flight Simulator while a guard is attempting arrest.
  • Tapping the Grid: Fixed inaccessible junction boxes that could occur after the Hunter attacks the Lodge.
  • The Best There Is: Fixed an issue that could prevent objective from advancing when talking to Naeva and Jasmine in the engineering room.
  • The Empty Nest: Fixed and issue that could cause Sam Coe’s gun to be invisible when inside Jacob’s house.
  • Heart of Mars: Fixed another location that could potentially prevent recovering The Heart of Mars.
  • The Pale Lady: Fixed rare case of inaccessible ship crew log data slate making it impossible to complete the encounter.
  • Top of the L.I.S.T.: Phil Hill should now accept survey data for Sumati.
  • War Relics: Resolved an issue that could prevent Kaiser from moving to the mission site.
  • Where Hope is Built: Fixed a crash that could occur with a specific set of player behaviors.

Ships and ship customization

  • Fixed another case that could cause an asteroid to follow a ship in space.
  • Fixed ship hatch being marked inaccessible after swapping to a new home ship.
  • Fixed an issue where the ship could end up in an unintended state by simultaneously attempting fast travel during a grav jump.
  • Fixed a view issue that could occur when fast traveling during ship targeting mode.
  • Fixed an issue that could occur when entering Ship Targeting mode immediately after selecting a Grav Jump.
  • Fixed an issue that caused non-functional ladders to appear when the player modified their ship with a Taiyo All-In-One Berth Top A and a Deimos 1×1.
  • Fixed an issue where the Legendary ship could take too long to resume firing after the weapons were repaired.
  • Space combat should now match ground combat difficulty increase with successive trips through the Unity.
  • Fixed an issue where loading an exit save made while docked to a space station could cause names of ships to change.
  • Fixed marker not pointing to the current home ship after performing a save/load between different ships.
  • Fixed in issue that could cause the Frontier to incorrectly appear if a non-home ship was removed from a landing pad.

Skills

  • Rejuvenation: Rejuvenation skill VFX no longer replay whenever the handscanner is opened in third person.
  • Surveying: Fixed surveying challenge progress issue with mineral resource.
  • Targeting Control Systems: Fixed inconsistencies with level 3 and 4.

Weapons and items

  • Fixed incorrect reload amounts that could occur when consuming a Trauma Pack.
  • Fixed FOV and zoom issues with weapon scopes.
  • Fixed weapon sound effects occasionally continuing to play after killing an enemy.
  • Fixed turret state not being restored properly after and save and load.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause the helmet light to not reappear in third person after a save and load.

Starfield update 1.8.88 patch notes

On December 11, 2023, Bethesda released the 1.8.88 patch which largely resolved the “pet asteroid” issue that many players were encountering after flying their Starfield ships through an asteroid field. The Starfield bug essentially caused floating space debris to become stuck to the side of ships during space travel. This bug has been resolved, and existing space matter can be removed simply by reloading a saved game. Unfortunately, the patch did not address the common bug that attached the whole of New Atlantis to a player’s ship, but Bethesda stated this would be addressed in a future update.

In addition to the above, the Starfield 1.8.88 patch fixed two other issues:

  • Newly created Weapon Cases will now spawn random guns reliable after loading a save, effectively making the legendary weapons farm more viable.
  • Fixed an issue that caused a crash if players tried to save without going to the Starfield New Game Plus mode fast enough.

Starfield update 1.8.86 patch notes

After a period of beta testing by the Starfield Steam community, Bethesda rolled out the Starfield 1.8.86 update to all PC platforms, and also to all Xbox versions of the game on November 20, 2023. Previously known as the beta 1.8.83 patch, the 1.8.86 patch rolled out NVIDIA hardware support and numerous gameplay features such as the ability to consume food and drink items without having to pick them up first.

In addition to the changes implemented in the beta 1.8.83 patch, the 1.8.86 patch includes:

  • Fixed an issue with the HUD and camera stuttering, which was initially introduced as a bug in the beta 1.8.83 patch.
  • [PC] Addressed additional visual issues related to the new DLSS support introduced in the beta 1.8.83 patch.

Starfield beta update 1.8.83 patch notes

November 8, 2023, saw the release of the Starfield beta patch 1.8.83, and which initially launched as an optional Steam beta branch of the game. Owners of Starfield on Xbox and other PC platforms such as Microsoft are unable to access the latest updates until “later in the month” according to the Starfield DLSS announcement.

This patch chiefly introduced native DLSS support for Nvidia hardware owners, and added the ability to eat Starfield food without picking it up first.

Full 1.8.83 patch notes:

Performance and stability improvements

  • Addressed a number of memory related issues and leaks.
  • [PC Only] Added some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher end cards.
  • [PC Only] Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher end systems.
  • Various stability and performance improvements.

Gameplay

  • Added the ability to eat food placed in the environemnt without requiring the player to pick up the food and open the player inventory.
  • Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
  • Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
  • Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes.
  • Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching the Unity and starting a new game.
  • Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering the Unity.
  • [PC Only] Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
  • Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
  • Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.

Graphics 

  • Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
  • Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
  • Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
  • [Xbox and Windows 11] Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it.
  • Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
  • Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
  • Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
  • Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.

Quests

  • All that Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
  • Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
  • Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
  • Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players’ quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
  • Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra Et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
  • No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue the that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
  • Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
  • Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
  • Short Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
  • Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.

Unfortunately, it has been reported since the release of the 1.8.83 beta patch that HUD issues and stuttering are widespread, particularly while flying your Starfield ship. However, as this is a beta branch of the game, it is likely that Bethesda is working to correct these issues in preparation for the wider rollout of the patch to Xbox and non-Steam versions of the game.

Starfield update 1.7.36 patch notes

On October 9, 2023, Bethesda released the Starfield patch 1.7.36 which released official FOV sliders that previously only existed through Starfield mods. This patch also addressed gameplay and performance stability issues for PC users with Intel Arc GPUs.

In addition, this patch fixed an issue with the Echoes of the Past mission where tunneling creatures could spawn or dig themselves to a location the player could not access, thereby soft-locking progression in the quest.

Starfield update 1.7.33 patch notes

On September 25, 2023, Bethesda released Starfield patch 1.7.33 which addressed a number of performance and stability issues, as well as a few general gameplay issues.

This patch fixed a number of character location inconsistencies, fixed an issue with space stations becoming a player-owned ship, and fixed the infinite item puddle glitch.

In addition, this patch:

  • Fixed an issue with the scanner that caused performance issues.
  • Rolled out fixes to address numerous incidents of crashing and freezing.
  • Fixed disappearing display items on mannequins aboard your Starfield ship.
  • Fixed an issue with the storage containers and weapon racks aboard the Razorleaf ship. Containers should no longer disappear when commandeering another ship.

Starfield update 1.7.29 patch notes

Released on September 13, 2023, Starfield patch 1.7.29 was a relatively small hotfix for three Starfield mission bugs:

  • Fixed an issue with the All that Money Can Buy mission that resulted in a quest soft-lock.
  • Fixed an issue with the Into the Unknown mission that resulted in a quest soft-lock.
  • Fixed an issue with the Shadows in Neon mission that resulted in a quest soft-lock.

In addition, the 1.7.29 patch improved stability for Starfield Xbox Series X|S players, and rolled out “various stability and performance improvements to reduce crashes and improve framerate” for all other players.

Starfield day one patch

Bethesda released Starfield on September 1, 2023, into Early Access alongside the Starfield day one patch: 1.7.23.0.

The day one patch aimed to generally improve game performance, deploy numerous bug fixes for visual glitches, gameplay issues, and quest blockers (actions performed by the player which would inadvertently soft-lock a specific Starfield mission).

Fortunately, Starfield launched as arguably one of the smoothest Bethesda experiences at launch, at least on the bugs side. Microsoft put a considerable amount of resources into Starfield, with even an AMD partnership helping with optimization.

When is the next Starfield update?

Starfield patches have no strict schedule for release, but the updates that have been released thus far have included a number of hotfixes for quest-related bugs, fan-requested features, and hardware stability issues. It’s highly likely that we’ll see one or two patches every month prior to the release of Starfield DLC, where additional updates may be required.

Once we have a full list of patch notes and a potential Starfield roadmap for improvements and bug fixing, we will be back to update this guide.

Starfield Intel patch

Bethesda has been beaten to the punch by Intel, after Intel put out its first Starfield patch, with the technology giant introducing new software following the Early Access launch to optimize the epic space RPG. PC users noted issues with Starfield running on DirectX 12 or Intel Arc series technology, so Intel has stepped in with a software patch to solve issues such as loading times, screen flicker, and application crashes. You can check out the update on the official Intel site if you’re using the developer’s hardware to play Starfield.

To plan your deep space escapades, check out our guides to the Starfield map, Starfield factions, Starfield character creation, Starfield ships, and Starfield aliens. Or, if you’re interested in what locations await, check out our pieces on the Starfield cities and Starfield planets.

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