The Shattered Space expansion for Starfield was supposed to usher in a modern era for Bethesda’s divisive space game Starfield, rekindling memories of the studio’s great DLCs of the past, such as Far Harbor for Fallout 4. But things didn’t go as planned after last month’s release.
The sci-fi RPG Starfield was released in September 2023 as Bethesda’s first all-new intellectual property in years and the first mainline single-player game since Microsoft’s acquisition of parent company ZeniMax Media in March 2021. IGN’s Starfield review returned 7/10. We said, “Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but ultimately the allure of its sprawling role-playing quests and respectable combat makes its gravitational pull hard to resist.”
A year later, Shattered Space has a “mostly negative” user review on Steam, as Starfield players complain about everything from a lack of value to dull quest design.
Now Emil Pagliarulo, director of studio design at Bethesda Game Studios, has responded to one fan’s concerns about not only Starfield and Shattered Space, but also the direction Bethesda is heading. This concern was caused by A Interview with GamesRadar from Pagliarulo, who enthusiastically publicized the expansion. This, according to the fan, suggests that Bethesda was disregarding the concerns of the community around Starfield.
IN a series of tweetsPagliarulo responded directly to this suggestion, and more generally to the discourse surrounding Starfield and Bethesda. “My optimism is not meant to be mud in the eyes of a dissatisfied fan,” Pagliarulo assured. “That’s not how it works.”
Pagliarulo added: “I’m also very proud of Shattered Space. We All Are,” and confirmed that most of the expansion’s quests and levels were developed by designers who have worked on previous Bethesda games and DLC, dating back to 2002’s masterpiece Morrowind. “They are good at what they do, and it shows,” he added.
“If people haven’t played Shattered Space and they like Starfield, I think they’re missing out,” Pagliarulo continued. “If people have played Shattered Space and still don’t like it, honestly that makes me sad. Just know that we’ve also heard from so many people who love it.”
Pagliarulo went some way to explaining this apparent discrepancy between his perception of Shattered Space and fan reaction. “Maybe it’s an expectation game,” he suggested. “The fans want a lot and we are doing everything we can to meet them. “Here’s what I can tell you – no one, and I mean no one, at Bethesda is patting themselves on the back and ignoring our players.”
Now that Shattered Space is available, fans are wondering what’s next for Starfield. In June, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard said the company was committed to supporting the game Field of Starswhich has been played by 14 million players on PC and Xbox Series X and S, and confirmed that at least one story expansion will be released after Shattered Space. Howard said Bethesda intends to release a story expansion every year, “hopefully for a very long time.”
Pagliarulo reiterated his commitment to support, saying Bethesda will continue to address community concerns and make fixes while “listening to our fans every step of the way.”
“Starfield is a huge game and we will take care of some things,” he explained. “We are moving as rapid as we can and as safely as we can. Game development is always hard, but for a game as huge as Starfield, each tweak has the potential to break something else.
“Finally, let me just say… I love games. I love Bethesda games. I’ve been playing them since Terminator. All I or anyone here wants to do is create these games and then improve them. No ego. No arrogance. Just a lot of demanding work and appreciation for our fans.
It’s a busy time for the 450-person Bethesda Game Studios, which currently has five teams: Starfield; Elder Scrolls 6; Fallout 76; portable; and external development partnerships. It runs on the aforementioned Elder Scrolls 6current content for Fallout 76various mobile games, updates to older games, and ultimately another Fallout.
But will Starfield get a sequel? If that happens, it could be a while before we see anything about it, with Elder Scrolls 6 not scheduled for release until 2028, with another Fallout game expected to follow.
Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
