Many feel that Bethesda cut content from Starfield in order to sell it later…
The latest Starfield update could have been the most celebrated development in the game’s history to date. However, the latest additions to Bethesda’s space RPG have disappointed much of the community. All this because the company once again stuck to an idea that has always caused adverse reactions from players: paid mods. (Who doesn’t remember Oblivion’s great Horse Armor DLC…)
The appearance of official support for community creations meant the introduction of a new premium currency (creations credits), as well as surreal elements such as developer-made missions, which are now sold separately.
Two big problems for Starfield players
There are two things to consider when understanding the controversy surrounding the Starfield update. First, there’s the fact that paid mods have never appealed to the majority of players. They are not convinced by the idea of companies directly profiting from the content that the community creates “for the love of art”. The most popular mod makers already have a donation system so that fans of this type of add-on can support their work. Companies often benefit indirectly in this sense. Their games have a longer life cycle and are better because mods exist. According to many, this is more than enough.
The other big reason for players’ anger is that Bethesda’s self-produced content appears in the store as paid mods.
The case of bounty hunting missions is severe. “The first one is free. After that, it’s seven euros for each additional mission, and it’s not like these missions last more than 30 minutes,” claims one reviewer on Steam. Many others feel the same way. Regardless, this is not the only content that the company itself has made to the store. Other, much less elaborate items appear with the label Created by Bethesda Game Studios. For example, a set of plushies costing three euros…
How will this affect the game?
Due to this situation, the number of negative reviews of the game on Steam increased significantly. Considering only reviews on Valve’s store since June 10, the game has “very negative” reviews, with just 18% upvotes after more than 400 reviews. Although the number of reviews is not very high, again, there are two things to consider. On the one hand, this is a very significant increase compared to the number of reviews Starfield received (it received a total of 31 reviews seven days before the announcement). On the other hand, many of the reviews are written by users who have already put countless hours into the game.
Among the community members, there are those who have rated the game after more than 100 or even 200 hours of playing time, which is an infrequent phenomenon.
We’re talking about users who actually enjoyed Bethesda’s space RPG, not community members who just don’t like Starfield. Other community discussion forums, such as Reddit’s forums or social media, are also full of negative opinions about Bethesda’s policy. All in all, even if we knew the move would definitely be criticized, it didn’t seem like the best time to make the announcement.
Of course, Starfield will continue to receive free updates in the future. In addition, fans also have the option to bypass paid mods. We can always download only those that are available for free from the service, and we can access the ones that interest us the most on the usual platforms. As for future official content, we understand that the Shattered Space update will be released before the end of the year. Perhaps more details will be revealed at the Gamescom opening conference (August 20, 2024) or at one of Microsoft’s own events. In any case, keep your eyes peeled for announcements about the future of the space RPG in the coming weeks.
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