Starfieldcontinues to look to expand its horizons more than a year after release. Bethesda’s latest sprawling sci-fi RPG adventure has seen its share of ups and downs since launching in 2023, with mixed fan and critical reactions to its design and overall experience. Still, the developer has pledged ongoing support forStarfieldwell into the future, and has been constantly patching in fixes and adding new features.
However, Starfield’s first major expansion,Shattered Space, received less than favorable reviewsupon release last September. While its space-horror premise was enticing on the surface, some of the main issues players had with it were its price point ($30) compared to its length and quality of content. Shattered Space failed to move the needle for many fans and left a lot to be desired. Bethesda may have its work cut out for it then for the next DLC. And though it hasn’t stated yet what direction the ostensible second expansion might be taking, there’s one connected to the studio’s franchise history that it can look to for inspiration, that beingFallout: New Vegas' Lonesome Road DLC.
Rumors of a “code-altering” update forStarfieldrecently surfaced, but Bethesda has not officially commented on or announced anything regarding this at the time of writing.
As the fourth and final majorDLC released forFallout: New Vegas, Lonesome Road wrapped up a number of mysteries and open questions about the player character, The Courier, hinted at throughout the base campaign. It delved more deeply into moral and philosophical issues, beyond even much of what was in the main tale. Lonesome Road saw a character called Ulysses confront the Courier, with the former’s story through the Mojave Wasteland mirroring the latter in many ways. It made for thought-provoking encounters and choices, asking players to reflect upon some ofNew Vegas' major issues and themes and their decisions. It also sent fans to a new area: The Divide, a challenging and unforgiving section of the Wasteland cut off from the rest.
Fallout: New Vegasand its DLCs were developed by Obsidian Entertainment under contract with Bethesda.
Shattered Space contained a strong cosmic horror flavor, and while a compelling angle, it was generally felt to be more than a bit shallow as a whole. Though it set out to expand on the intrigue aroundHouse Va’ruun, one ofStarfield’s most interesting elements, the story along with the new items and enemies the DLC introduced didn’t make as much of an impact overall, and the consensus was that it was lackluster.
Starfield’s NASA-punk settingis grounded in hard science, which often means that exploring the galaxy results in empty and desolate locations. In this case, though, it would meld well with an isolated tale like Lonesome Road, asStarfieldalso has a healthy dose of issues akin to ones seen in it, just from a more futuristic viewpoint. Perhaps by building upon the alternate universes that fans can explore after reaching the Unity, players could possibly encounter one (or at least a new planet) populated by a new character or faction that has knowledge of the Starborn and the player, and like Ulysses, has followed their actions and tracked them down to confront them in a similar situation.
Though Bethesda has been quiet thus far about itsplans forStarfieldin 2025and beyond, it could look to the past at how Lonesome Road presented its vision and narrative forStarfield’s next chapter. By incorporating adjacent ideas from Lonesome Road intoStarfield’s next major DLC, this might be one way that Bethesda could give it a push to recapture some of its best and still unexplored aspects, while moving the franchise meaningfully forward.
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Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
