Summary
Bethesda has released a new update forStarfield, which seems to finally fix the crashes that occur during long playthroughs. While players have been anxiously waiting for new content to drop forStarfield, Bethesda has instead focused on smaller updates that surgically targeted all the game-breaking bugs missed during development. With around250 employees still working onStarfield, its patches are most likely not the primary focus for the team at Bethesda, but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate the fixes implemented through the updates either.
A particularly alarming issue that caused concern and frustration among players was the stack overflow bug that occurred with save games during long playthroughs on high levels of Unity. Not only did it punish fans for engaging withStarfield’s content long-term, but it also held some discouraging implications for complexStarfieldmodsas well. Players wondered how long this bug would persist, and if it would ever be addressed by Bethesda. The outcome, thankfully, seems to be quite encouraging.
Starfieldreceived a new updateon December 11. Though it also fixes the strange bug that has enemies, companions, and other objects randomly attaching themselves onto a player’s ship, the main star of the patch is undoubtedly the fix that addresses long playthrough crashes. The patch applies to both PC and Xbox players, which means thatStarfieldfans will hopefully be able to continue their adventure in the Settled Systems without worrying about auto saves and fast travel.
WhileStarfieldhas its share of inspired features, such as the ship builder, the game has also gotten criticism over the way it tackles exploration, where many sawStarfield’s procedural generation as being antithetical to the Bethesda sandbox formula. As a result,Starfieldhas a mixed rating on Steam, and despiteBethesda directly responding to negativeStarfieldreviews, the score continues to trend down.
Ultimately, it may take a more substantial update forStarfieldto turn its reputation around. Despite the initial success, even staunch Bethesda fans struggle to see it replicate the kind of longevity thatSkyrimhas enjoyed over the years. It remains to be seenhow Shattered Space will expandStarfield, but it is arguably the best opportunity for Bethesda to spice up the game. Details on the DLC remain under wraps, but many players speculate that it will likely have something to do with either the enigmatic House Va’ruun, or New Game Plus and the Starborn instead.
