It’s been more than two years since Bethesda’s newest IP Starfield launched on PC and Xbox consoles, bringing their role-play expertise to the vast universe in the stars.
The game’s one (and only) DLC launched in 2024, with developers dropping other smaller updates and Creation highlights over the years. The last update for the game, 1.15.222, released in July, and it’s time to brace for a shipload more that will be coming soon when the game finally releases on PlayStation 5.
PS5 players will get the chance to play Starfield on April 7, the same days as the new update titled Freelanes and Terran Armada. Tracker Alliance content dropped today too!
Timothy Lamb, lead creative producer of Starfield, discussed the Freelanes and Terran Armada updates and the community feedback that shaped many of the new content and changes coming to the game, including new companions, new missions, new features and more. (Maria will be recruitable!)
Player feedback was the basis for much of the changes and additions to the game, like adding an additional field of view for ships flying in space so players can see their larger ship builds, being able to take items through the Unity for New Game+ and more.
You can watch the full video here:
Ship updates
“The other big request that we’ve been working on for a long time, players wanted the ability to explore this space in between the planets within a star system, so we added the ability to cruise,” Lamb said.
Players will have four cruise speeds to utilize while trawling between planets, where players will find anomalies like wreckages that will load radiantly in as they explore.
“Being in the Freelanes isn’t just about getting there and experiencing things that you find along the way, it’s about living a life on your ship,” Lamb said, noting that you’ll be able to get up and explore you ship while locked on to your next target to talk to your crew, decorate you ship, grab items to prepare for your next on-planet excursion (and your time-to-land at your destination will be displayed for you as you do your preparations).
The Freelanes update also includes new resources in the game: X Tech. X Tech will start to appear in different places around dungeons, like in in boss chests, that can be used to customize weapons skins along with attributes and modifiers. Individual upgrade modules can also drop as loot, and you will also be able to upgrade armor as well.
Ships are also getting more upgrades available as well. Enemy space ships will have a chance to drop schematics that include electromagnetic pulse shielding, repair system, overdrive, buoyancy, insulators, anti-targeting system, evasive, refrac shield unit, extended comma ray and advance ship scrap unit.
Developers also added a ship optimization terminal to the cockpit, giving players the ability to customize attributes using X Tech. These optimizations can include things like hull integrity, cargo management, afterburn, weapons reload, shield regeneration, and more.
Outpost updates
Outposts are getting a nice upgrade with the update as well, which was described as some practical and some cosmetic, which includes cute little creatures, new crafting branches for cosmetics, the elevated cabin pre-fab outpost for players to plop down if they want an easy outpost to build.
We’re getting Colony War Action Heroes that are very reminiscent of Vault Boy bobbleheads from Fallout — 27 action figures you can collect that offer a one-time permeant buff. There are “sealed” and “unsealed” versions of the action figures, and there are two display cases that can be used to showcase your collections.
The inventory is shared across outposts so you can always have your full collection on display.
A new database menu is available that is a one stop shop of all the information you’ve learned, that your character has learned in this universe.
The database shows you organic and inorganic life, sorted by common, uncommon, rate, exotic and unique. You can track recipe, which will track your ingredients that includes things like icon, sealant, etc. Tracing a recipe will show you all the planets that have those resources and also show how far the planet is relative to where you are.
Share resources between outposts and fast travel between them, you can also favorite planets you visit frequently.
Developers also made changes to the experiences that happen around the surface of planets, on top of adding new content overall including new locations, a new vehicle, and more.
You can catch the full breakdown by Bethesda here:
