Bethesda Game Studios has stated that their 2023 space exploration RPG, Starfield, “remains an important part of our future,” along with teasing Starborn, and upcoming DLC for the title coming in 2027. Todd Howard, Development Chief at Bethesda, issued a note following the massive layoff at Xbox, including studios like Bethesda seeing large-scale job loss. Previously, the studio had addressed these lay-offs, in particular, talking about the upcoming title, The Elder Scrolls VI, assuring fans that development on the title remained unaffected by 3,200 job cuts across all divisions at Xbox.
Starfield, at the time of these layoffs, was absent from a list of Bethesda’s priorities, which was something fans were quick to point out. At the time of release, the title failed to meet fan expectations, with subsequent updates and expansions failing to generate any additional buzz. The game’s additional release on PlayStation 5 in 2026 also seemed to have been met with lukewarm sales, selling around 140,000 copies in its first week.
At the time, the title boasted a ten-million player count within the first month of release, a metric used for the game due to its day-one inclusion on Xbox Game Pass. Todd Howard has stated that the game has now passed 17 Million Players worldwide. In his note, he wrote:
STARFIELD CONTINUES. With over 17 million players logging almost a billion hours to date, Starfield remains an important part of our future. As we enter Year 3, we’ll continue expanding the Settled Systems with new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, and additional updates, while preparing for the launch of new Starborn content next year. More than 40% of players already customize their experience through Creations, and we’ll continue investing in creators and giving players new ways to make Starfield their own.
Obviously, the statement about Starborn content points to more coming to the game in 2027, though what that content is remains to be seen. Starfield has seen two major expansions, Shattered Space and Terran Armada, since it was first released, so this could be the next in that vein. Free Lanes, which was a major free update added alongside the PlayStation 5 release, isn’t a narrative expansion, but still offered a lot of content and changes, so we could be getting something in line with that.
There was no mention during this of a potential sequel to the game, which makes sense since The Elder Scrolls VI is still a few years from release. Todd Howard has also stated on multiple occasions that announcing The Elder Scrolls VI was announced far too early, having been revealed alongside Starfield, and has yet to be released. A Nintendo Switch version of Starfield has also been suggested to be in the works, but we did not get any news about that either. We did learn earlier, however, that Fallout 5 is in preproduction.
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