Bethesda says the "biggest Starfield update yet" will arrive Wednesday, January 17 with over 100 "fixes and improvements" including a raft of graphical tweaks for the RPG.
The studio announced the impending patch in a Twitter post earlier day, following up on its 2023 end-of-year review which promised a big lineup of improvements for 2024. The update will first arrive in Steam beta on January 17, with a full release coming to all players two weeks later (assuming things go according to plan).
Next week, on January 17, we’ll be putting our biggest @StarfieldGame update yet into Steam Beta with over 100 fixes and improvements, with a planned release date for all players two weeks later. Here’s some of what you can expect: pic.twitter.com/IPpVjuG5OQJanuary 12, 2024
Bethesda shared "some of what you can expect" in the reveal thread, though the full patch notes are still to come. The specifics of those 100 fixes and improvements are still mostly unknown, but we do have some of the headlining changes.
"A multitude of fixes to quests" is on the way, for starters. Bethesda says "Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos."
Perhaps more excitingly, this mammoth update promises "stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements," some of which seem to address the uglier bits of the RPG. Bethesda offered this before-and-after of an NPC's glow-up, and the revamped lighting sure does make this man look less like a really convincing wax doll.
Additionally, this update brings stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements ranging from additional widescreen support to improved textures, lighting, and shadows. Before / After ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aYf6V7yOKYJanuary 12, 2024
In a similar vein, "sun disk geometry" and "planet ring shadows" have been tuned up to make the vistas you'll find out in the void even more beautiful. Other bug fixes include yet another pass at "asteroids following ships" like little pet rocks, as well as "bulldozed objects reappearing when returning to an Outpost" and "ship hatches marked inaccessible." All in all, it sounds like a promising, potentially quite pretty start to 2024 for Starfield.
If Starfield's promised city maps are as clean as this fan-made design, it'd be a dream come true.
