Bethesda teases 'new survival mechanics' and Starfield updates coming every six weeks in 2024

Besides adding DLSS and Frame Generation support on the PC version of Starfield, Bethesda's post-launch support for its massive sci-fi RPG has been a little quiet for the game's first three months since release.

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The game has been extremely popular, with 13 million players, including a remarkable average per-player playtime of 40 hours. In raw numbers, that's close to two billion planets visited, with players spending over 26 million hours building new ships.

That's about to change, with Bethesda Game Studios set to release game updates every six weeks, starting in February 2024, alongside the release of the game's first expansion called Shattered Space, which is also coming next year. These updates will be more than just bug-related; they'll bring quality-of-life updates, improvements to content, and new features.

Bethesda notes that these updates will first roll out via the Steam Beta branch - and so far, we can expect to get in-game city maps while exploring the game's major city locales, expanded shipbuilding with new options and decorations, and new 'survival mechanics.'

The team is looking to expand the realism beyond simply cranking up the difficulty, and it's reminiscent of the excellent post-launch 'Survival Mode' that transformed Fallout 4. And you'll be able to customize these settings.

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"With these new settings, you'll be able to alter your gameplay to allow for an easier or more challenging experience that will expand beyond our normal "Difficulty" setting," Bethesda Game Studios writes. "These will allow you to easily customize carry capacity, cargo access distance, ship damage, vendor credits, how you suffer afflictions, new survival mechanics, and more."

The team also touches on the launch of 'Creations' and official mod support of the game as next year will see the arrival of an updated 'Creation Kit.' "Modding has always been an enormous part of our games, with incredible community-made content constantly bringing fresh new experiences," Bethesda adds. "With the scale and systems in Starfield, we can't wait to see what you come up with!"

Finally, Bethesda provides some info on the upcoming Shattered Space expansion, confirming that it will include new story content alongside new locations to visit.