Many fans have now put Starfield aside in disappointment. But the new update shows that the developers can still salvage some things

Is Starfield a sign of Bethesda’s decline? Could it be the next No Man’s Sky or Cyberpunk 2077 to come? Or is the role-playing game already dead? All these questions have already been discussed intensively.

The latest game from the Fallout and Elder Scrolls developers has been surrounded by many hopes and fears since its announcement. The fact that Starfield was a huge disappointment for many fans on release is shown not least by the historically poor Steam ratingsfor a Bethesda title. Recently, even many of the most loyal fans have become impatient with the lack of major updates

However, with the latest announcement, the developers are now showing that they can do what I hoped for back in December: That Starfield will win back many fans and become a much better game.

A big step …

Relatively surprisingly, Bethesda released a video about Starfield a few days ago. The content is the announcement of the first really big update for the role-playing game:

The so-called May update gives me and many other fans new hope for the role-playing game. For several reasons, it finally gives the impression that Bethesda is really able and willing to significantly improve Starfield:

• For the first time, an update is announced with a really elaborate video instead of a mere listing of the patch notes. Bethesda is clearly making an effort to communicate the new features to the fans.
• The update fulfills several fan wishes at once, and does so in a thoughtful and elaborate way. The main highlight is the new surface maps, which make it easier to find your way around planets and cities. They look really good and work extremely well. There is also a decoration mode for ships and new difficulty settings.
• These improvements don’t stop there: probably surprisingly for most fans, there will soon even be a ground vehicle with which we can zoom across the planets.

.. but hopefully only the beginning

In my opinion, Bethesda has now shown that the story of Starfield has not yet been told. Of course, the update is just a first step, and the developers still have to go further to get many fans to return.

In addition to the promised vehicle, the video also hints at new quests, which are probably not part of the big expansion Shattered Space and perhaps even the neglected vehicle. Perhaps even the neglected settler faction L.I.S.S. will be expanded. But that can’t be all

For a real comeback, the developers would also have to work on what I consider to be the most important point of criticism, namely exploration: The randomly placed locations should not keep repeating themselves, fit in better with their surroundings, and offer more variety

In order to really make a difference here, Bethesda would have to invest a lot of work, that’s for sure. But now I actually have hope that Starfield will live up to the high expectations in the end.

If the new update has whetted your appetite for Starfield again, we have two recommendations for you: A large fan expansion lets you build entire colonies. And you may not even have discovered one of the most beautiful planets yet

What do you think of the May update? Is it the right first step for Starfield, or would you have liked something else? Let me know in the comments below