Bethesda remembers it made Starfield, promises new 'space gameplay' in back half of random video that doesn't even mention Starfield in the title

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Starfield's fallen a ways since it was the most-wishlisted game on Steam.

Two people talking in a futuristic restaurant
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Oh, Starfield. Since the release of—and lukewarm response to—the Shattered Space expansion almost a full year ago, Bethesda's been very quiet about what it's got planned for the game that was once anticipated enough to send Baldur's Gate 3 scurrying for cover. In fairness, the studio's had other irons in the fire, most notably the much-better-received Oblivion remaster that hit earlier this year.

But let's be real, it's hard not to feel that Bethesda would be making a lot more noise about Starfield if it had gone down better with fans, and those holdouts who still inhabit its subreddit and other community spots are gradually losing hope as the company steadfastly says barely anything about the game's roadmap.

And here are all the glorious details: just kidding. No details for you. All we get from the enthusiastic Lamb is a comment that "part of the team has been focused on space gameplay to make the travels there more rewarding. We're also adding some new game systems and a few other smaller delights." Also, there's new stuff in the pipe from Bethesda's cadre of "verified creators"—its stable of modders that market their wares in the Creation Club.

(Image credit: Bethesda)

To my eye, it looked a lot like the kind of system you can find in Elite: Dangerous—the way the dataminers described it made it sound like you'd be able to cruise from planet to planet within a system, but not between systems. Also, unlike Elite, you wouldn't be able to pop to and from a planet's surface without a load screen.

All of which is pure speculation, of course, and it's worth noting that a lot of this uncovered code was subsequently yoinked from the game's files by Bethesda. But it would line up with Lamb's teases, and it would answer one of the loudest complaints that players have about Starfield's rendition of space: that its sense of exploration was curtailed by everything being separated by a loading screen.

So fingers crossed, I suppose. Still, I have to say that even if it does turn out that Lamb's teases turn out to match the dataminer speculation, it's worth noting just how this news was delivered. A glitzy showcase? A big trailer at whatever Geoff Keighley event is currently ongoing? No. It was tucked into minute five of a six-minute dev interview video that didn't even mention Starfield in the title. If this game has plans to become the thing players hoped it would be, it's sure got a long way to climb.

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Joshua Wolens
Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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