Near the end of a long interview focused on the Fallout TV show, IGN got Bethesda’s Todd Howard to provide some updates on what the game studio is doing, including Starfield. The game creator teased that fans of the sci-fi RPG can expect ‘really good updates’ to be announced soon.
I’m going to avoid putting dates on anything. I’ve learned that the hard way. So obviously, our focus as far as new development right now is Elder Scrolls VI, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not making plans for other things. We’re still doing a lot of work, obviously on Fallout 76, and we see the community, so many people going into that game and kind of rediscovering it and just so happy with where that game is at. It really does, and I mean, this has one of the best communities in all of gaming. Surprisingly, it’s a very, very nice apocalypse, and we’re doing a lot of Starfield work as well. So we have some really good updates that are going to get announced soon for that game. So, a lot going on here.
Bethesda has already done some extensive work on Starfield this year. Patch 1.9.51.0 was launched in late January, improving several graphics elements as detailed below:
- 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 in first person view (PC Ultra).
- Improved lighting in the character generation menu.
A few weeks later, Update 1.9.67.0 added support for AMD FSR 3 and Intel XeSS upscalers on PC. However, that’s just a sliver of the overall plans for 2024. Bethesda said Starfield is getting city maps, all-new ways to travel, and, of course, official mod support.
While the latter arrives, modders continue to make outstanding work even without it. Just check the Galactic Colonies Expanse mod that adds brand-new buildings, turrets, a whole farming system, and more.
