When the Free Lanes update lands in Starfield on April 7, you'll be able to traverse more of deep-space without needing to navigate as many menus. It's a big win for Bethesda's RPG, given that the prevalence of loading screens across the experience could so easily disrupt the fantasy of role-playing as an interplanetary space captain.
Exploring the Future of Starfield: How Bethesda Game Studios is beginning to breathe new life into its most misunderstood RPG
Still, for all of the biggest changes coming to Starfield alongside its launch of PS5 this April, you should still expect to encounter loading screens and the like as you navigate between key points of interest at a ground level. Tim Lamb, lead creative producer at Bethesda, tells me that it's unlikely this will ever change. "We're always listening, but it's really about what's achievable technically. I think the version of Starfield we wanted to make, those loads are necessary."
In this exclusive GamesRadar+ interview, we speak with the Bethesda veteran about the key refinements and changes arriving through the Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC, what PS5 players should expect, whether there's more to come from Starfield, and more besides.
GamesRadar+: Bethesda revealed that a significant amount of content is coming to Starfield through the Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC – but there's a hesitation to call this 'Starfield 2.0'. The vibe I'm getting is that, for players who like the game, these improvements are designed to make their time in the Settled Systems even better. And for those who didn't get Starfield to begin with, then Bethesda doesn't really care, because it's proud of the game it made…
Tim Lamb: I wouldn't say that we don't care. With the passion that we have internally, there's this euphoria that comes with everybody liking your game. But we've had our heads down and have been focused on making a better version of Starfield. We have several vectors of intake for information, whether that's Reddit, Discord, or wherever, and we have several things that we know we want to add.
I think what we're putting out there with Free Lanes and Terran Armada brings a lot of that stuff together. I really feel like we have hit a good milestone of making a better version of Starfield. And this isn't the end for me, but a good point to jump off to what's next for the game.
GR+: It's less of a reinvention then, and more of an advancement of so many of the key mechanics and systems. What steps did you take to identify the key areas of focus for the Free Lanes update?
Tim Lamb: Players want to get where they want to go, right? We heard the feedback that people want to really live that space fantasy, and exist in this place. So how do we achieve that became the challenge, because we have all of this content that we made for the launch of Starfield – all of these great encounters and moments that can appear around our worlds – so for us it was about starting to fill in that space in between them.
It's a big undertaking. It's not just adding interplanetary travel and having that system. We also need to indicate to the player that there's something that they might find interesting over here, so there's all of the audio and visual work that goes into achieving that. There was an iteration that I'm particularly proud of:
There's a moment where you're traveling to something on the far side of a planet, flying at super speed, and then as you get into its gravity well it sort of slows you down and it just moves past you. And then, when you do arrive at the far side, there's something special about the arrival at the planet. How those transitions feel, it captures the spirit of things you have seen in films before. It captures what this type of travel could feel like. I think we got to a really good place with that. It's a great addition.
GR+: Why is it that something like deep-space travel can be introduced into Starfield, with all the technical complexities that must have been for your team, but the number of loading screens can't be reduced as players transition between key points of interest?
Tim Lamb: I think they are two different things. We're always listening, but it's really about what's achievable technically. I think the version of Starfield we wanted to make, those loads are necessary. We could do the mental exercise of going, okay, what would this place look like without them? Would it feel barren, would it feel empty? How much does that stress the CPU because of all of the things that would need to happen? So I think those [load screens] are very necessary. So they are two different things.
In space, there's not a lot to load. So the transition between existing on your ship – that's what's there, and between here and that planet, there's really nothing. So you can move between those two sort of existences easier than you could put a whole city somewhere. So they're different, but both are important in achieving the best version of the game.
GR+: With Shattered Space, it really felt you were trying to bring a more authored location to life. The incoming Terran Armada DLC feels a lot wider in scope. What are you trying to achieve with this expansion?
Tim Lamb: When it comes to Shattered Space, some of the feedback we heard was that players wanted a more traditional or classic Bethesda experience. 'I want to go to one place, I don't want to have to leave, and I want to experience everything here.' So we asked ourselves where it made sense to do that, and we knew there were some things we really wanted to explore with the Va'ruun, so those ideas aligned.
But we had also gotten feedback asking for something that has more impact on the broader scope of the galaxy, and players want to be able to cruise to places between planets. So it was like, okay, let's really focus on what happens in space. The Terran Armada have this technology that can prevent you from grav-jumping, okay, so now this new tool that you have in being able to cruise makes it interesting to get to the Terran incursions. So all of these things start to marinate, simmer together and develop.
I think it's the best version of Starfield
GR+: One of the bigger changes coming on April 7 are the changes to New Game+ where Starfield will change up the trade-offs inherent to using the Unity. What compelled you to make that change?
Tim Lamb: I think back to Fallout 3, where the game just ended. The feedback we got at the time was that fans were surprised – they wanted to keep going. So we put this system into Starfield; we wanted it to be a meaningful choice, it wasn't meant to be suffering. But I think the attachment that players felt to the things that they had gathered up to that point meant that they didn't want to part with their items. It was a bridge too far – a sacrifice too meaningful. There's so many exciting things that can happen in our New Game+ loop that we wanted to give a little bit of encouragement.
We knew we wanted to do something, but it had to make sense, right? We love the Starborn, and the idea of Quantum Essence – so we've given that more meaning in the economy of the game. Then we are introducing X-Tech to further upgrade your weapons and your gear; well, we don't want to ask the player to put in a lot of work for a reward they are searching for, only to say, 'no, it's gone now.' So once these things started coming together, we knew we absolutely had to do something like this if we were going to do the other things.
GR+: Starfield is the first all-new, single-player Bethesda RPG to arrive on a PlayStation platform in over a decade. What should PS5 players expect coming into it?
Tim Lamb: I think it's the best version of Starfield. One of our goals is to always be improving it. We have our veteran players who have sort of guided us to these improvements.. I don't want to say they forced our hand, but they have been very clear with saying 'this would be the experience that I want.' So to have all of these new additions in the game, I'm a bit jealous of first-time players as they come in.
They get to have one of the biggest Bethesda games ever made – I think it has been said that it was irresponsibly large… so you get to have this irresponsibly large Bethesda Game that was one of our biggest launches, one of our cleanest launches. And then you get to have it with multiple years of additional support, systems, and content. It is a very complete milestone package to start fresh with.
GR+: Do you see a future for Starfield beyond these updates, even with the majority of Bethesda Game Studios working on The Elder Scrolls 6?
Tim Lamb: I think there's a future for it. We have plans, but I won't get into the specifics today. When we launch a game, it's always our plan to support it long-term. To what level that happens, or the significance of that, of how that manifests, is open to interpretation. But there's more to come for Starfield. There's still things that excite the team. There's still lore and places that we're excited to explore. Those would be the sorts of things we're chasing after.
