Starfield is causing so much rage that Bethesda felt compelled to officially respond regarding the future of the space RPG. What can we learn from it?
Since its release last year, Bethesda Game Studios’ Starfield has faced a wave of harsh criticism. And this from the players. Expected for years and preceded by hype from many people, the game unfortunately disappointed many fans. And since the new controversy, the studio has decided to respond.
Starsfield gets lynched
Despite the time that has passed since its launch, the situation has not improved for Starfield. Players are frustrated by the lack of a release date for the game’s first major expansion, Shattered Space. This lack of communication from Bethesda contributed to the erosion of player interest. Visible in particular by the significant drop in the presence of the game on streaming and content creation platforms.
Additionally, recently Starfield was the victim of so-called review bombing on Steam. This practice involves flooding a game with negative reviews in response to controversial developer decisions. In the case of Starfield, this reaction was triggered by the introduction of official modding tools and the Creation Club. A paid mod platform already used for Fallout 4 and Skyrim. The appearance of certain mods behind a paywall has particularly exasperated players, who consider this approach to be an abuse. In short, paid quests had players screaming.
General discomfort
Amid growing controversy, Todd Howard, the creative director of Bethesda Game Studios, spoke out to respond to the criticism. In a recent interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, Howard claimed that Bethesda is “hearing feedback” from players and plans to review how content is distributed in the future. He stated : “We need to evaluate both pricing, what we offer for free, how we communicate what is included, and really listen to the community.”