Starfield is finally getting a map overhaul and other key changes ahead of “massive” Shattered Space expansion”
Starfield is getting a vast new selection of fixes, changes and much-requested additions in its upcoming May update. These include interior ship decorations, new surface maps that should make nevigation less frustrating, new difficulty and gameplay options, and more. This update is live right now via Steam beta, but goes live for the public on May 15.
The info comes via a dedicated video from Bethesda, as well as a blog post which dives into each individual change and fix coming with the May update. We’re also left with a tease for the future courtesy of that video, in which we’re told that the Starfield team is working on a land vehicle, more quests, and the “massive” Shattered Space expansion. In addition, the beta creation toolkit is in the hands of verified creators for Starfield, so expect some wacky new community creations in the near future.
To dig in to some of those big new additions coming to the May update, let’s start with the surface map overhaul. Rather than the vague map we got at launch, Starfield’s planets will have more comprehensive overviews bursting with more detail and utility. When this udpate goes live, you’ll be able to see structures and terrain. In cities, markers for all the shops and places of interest will be there too, hopefully making exploration a bit more intuitive.
There will also be gameplay modifiers that affect difficulty in a variety of ways, ranging from space combat to maximum carry capacity. These can be toggled from easy all the way up to a new extreme difficulty, and provide XP bonuses when set to the more challenging setting. This should hopefully give more hardcore players something to dig their teeth into, and more casual players a way to keep things simple and enjoyable.
Probably a fan favourite will be the addition of a proper interior decoration mode to ships, allowing you to furnish and beautify your own space vessels. It’s basically the same system you use at your outposts. Also, you can start with “empty habs”, which are totally barren ship sections you can customise from the ground up.
You can now respec your traits in New Game +, and change your appearance too, which is nice. The main platform-specific focus of this update is apparently on the Xbox Series X version of the game, which will now offer both a performance and visuals mode allowing for those who care about FPS to slam that up to 60. There are also a variety of quality of life changes and bug fixes – all of which can be read in full on the aforementioned blog post. There’s a lot!
It’s a nice, chunky update to Starfield that may make the game more appealing to those who bounced off the space adventure, while making the whole experience even better for those who have remained active. What about you, do you feel yourself drawn back to Starfield by this news? Let us know below!
