Starfield has received a large update with many improvements, but can the patch improve players’ mood?
What was the mood of Starfield players before the update? Not good. In January 2024, Starfield received a total of 4,091 player reviews on Steam, of which 69% were negative. This continues the trend from previous months.
The last time Starfield received more positive than negative reviews was on November 22. Since then, it has been steadily declining. Overall, Starfield is now only 62% positive on Steam and has thus fallen by 10% since its release in September.
Players complain about the same criticisms as during Starfield’s release:
- constant loading screens while traveling
- lifeless planets
- the performance of the game in cities
Overall, the picture emerges of players who had high expectations for Starfield and were disappointed by the finished product.
Patch brings a huge mountain of bug fixes and improvements
What kind of update was it? Bethesda released the large update 1.9.51 for Starfield on January 30. The patch is over 11 GB in size on Steam and brought numerous improvements to the sci-fi role-playing game.
For example, an issue with the PC version that could lead to a crash when switching from full-screen to windowed mode was fixed. Bethesda also addressed numerous bugs, such as incorrectly invisible creatures on some planets and the occurrence of corrupted save files.
One of the highlights of the patch is likely the improvements to the graphics of the role-playing game. For instance, the lighting of the game world was improved in 73 locations and reflections on water surfaces were also enhanced.
You can find the complete patch notes for update 1.9.51 on the official website of the developers at bethesda.net.
The new patch does not convince critical players
How do players rate the update? Not really well. On X.com (formerly Twitter), the mood is somewhat positive, and players appreciate the developers’ efforts, but some fans are also demanding new features and further improvements.
On Reddit, it looks similar—but even more negative. Many players simply ask, “Was bug x also fixed?” (via Reddit), while others continue to voice criticism and conclude that the update does not make them want to return:
- No-Internet-4630 via Reddit: “It feels like I’ve been battling glitches for weeks and getting nowhere. The latest update that came out yesterday fixed exactly 0 of the problems I’ve encountered. […] It’s also pretty sad because I really enjoyed this game and wished I could continue playing. But it’s just more frustrating than fun right now.”
- thefluffyburrito via Reddit: “I think there are just too many issues with the game right now for me to ever want to play it the same way I did Skyrim. Even if the game were completely bug-free, I could talk for hours about a range of issues that either don’t exist in other Bethesda titles or are highly exaggerated in this game.”
- Metalocachick via Reddit: “I just think the game is fundamentally flawed. I tried to enjoy it, I really did, because Bethesda is one of the reasons I love video games today… But after spending the last few months figuring out why I have zero to no desire to play this game again, I believe it’s because the design decisions are just bad.”
Can the update improve players’ mood? Partially. Despite all the criticism, there are positive posts about the game every day in the Starfield subreddit. There are indeed still players who continue to play and enjoy the game. Some even report having 700 to 800 hours in Starfield. Among the players, there are thus two camps:
- In negative threads, mainly players who want to post their criticism gather.
- In positive or neutral threads, mostly players who still like Starfield.
Positive-minded players do not really express themselves actively in the posts where criticism is gathered.
Those who already like Starfield appreciate the bug fixes. For those who are critical of the game, this is not enough. The update hasn’t really improved the mood except for players who were already somewhat positive. What will likely be more important in this regard is the release of the first expansion “Shattered Space”.
Only at the end of December did Bethesda announce the big plans they have for the role-playing game in 2024: Starfield reveals big plans for 2024, talks about new gameplay options, mod support, and the first expansion
