The Reason There's No More ‘Starfield' DLC
Starfield
There was a new Xbox showcase this past week with a lot of solid offerings, but what was supposed to be one of the biggest games of this entire era was nowhere to be found. That would be Bethesda's Starfield, the new IP from the developer that Microsoft previously bragged was the studio's biggest launch ever.
Starfield was released in September of 2023, and its first DLC, Shattered Space, was released in September of 2024. So, Starfield fans were hoping that this showcase would debut another DLC that was going to be out this fall, despite how late of notice that might have been.
Nope, didn't happen. And I think when you examine how this game has performed and the support it's gotten, you'll understand why.
Starfield
I don't care about the current numbers on this Steamdb chart but see if you can guess where the launch of Shattered Space was here. Can you see it? Do you need a microscope? Yes, it's that little blip in September to the right of the middle. The launch of the expansion took the game to a 21,000 peak, double-ish what the game was averaging before that. If you want a comparison point, here's the launch of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, three years after the game's (poor) launch.
Starfield
FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™
Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase
Pinpoint By Linkedin
Guess The Category
Queens By Linkedin
Crown Each Region
Crossclimb By Linkedin
Unlock A Trivia Ladder
It's obvious, and the expansion went on to have about a 30% attach rate to the original game. Some may say that Xbox players who got the full bundle for launch may have played it more, but it's not like this game did not sell very well on Steam, and I don't think the numbers were wildly better elsewhere.
Bethesda and Microsoft do not believe there's enough of an audience for a second expansion. They're right, clearly. The Shattered Space expansion was not even good, for that matter, so in addition to just making something, they'd have to make it a lot better. Combine this with Bethesda being half a decade behind on making Elder Scrolls VI, and there's just no chance this was going to happen.
Bethesda has attempted to channel Skyrim and open up mod tools for Starfield, but that has disappointed that community as it hasn't been good enough support, and big scene modders have abandoned the game entirely.
Starfield should have been a game that received ongoing support and built itself out with features and additions and content like we saw with the game it emulated, No Man's Sky. But Bethesda is not Hello Games, and Starfield was not given this support. It got a vehicle update, some new base items. The ability to not completely wreck all your items when switching ships. Not much, nor did it deliver a good DLC, and the numbers reflect that. Starfield's done.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay's Friendship with Knicks Star Jalen Brunson Makes Ben Stiller Jealous
Mariska Hargitay has friends and fans everywhere you look. The Law & Order: SVU star has been on TV chasing down the worst of the worst as Captain Olivia Benson since 1999 ... when future Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was 3 years old. These days in 2025, Brunson's family fandom has earned Hargitay some special privileges at Knicks games, which she confirmed to Seth Meyers on Late Night. "Ben Stiller — who's a fan and also has very nice seats like you — said all the celebrities are jealous because Jalen Brunson only hugs you after games," Seth said. "And this was a choice Jalen Brunson made. You didn't storm the court and hug him! So how did your first postgame embrace with Jalen come to pass?" "I said Jalen, bring it in," the actress and filmmaker joked. But really, "how it started was they let me know that Jalen was a big fan, and I was so flattered and thrilled, because I was such a huge fan," Hargitay told Meyers. "I think Jalen sort of grew up on SVU...I think he felt this, as many people do, intimacy and safety that one does growing up on SVU." They're so close that Hargitay is even on friendly terms with Brunson's dad, Rick. "I call him Rick. We're close like that," she said with a laugh. "It feels like the biggest name drop."After Meyers called him out for being jealous, Stiller jokingly replied to the clip on X (formerly Twitter) with "That's cool, I guess? Whatever." A massive lifelong fan and constant presence at Knicks games, Stiller is so close to the team that he often appears on Brunson's podcast, The Roommates Show, and has griped about this issue before. "The love that Mariska Hargitay gets from you post-game is the envy of every other Knicks celebrity game," he said in a clip posted to the Roommates Show X (formerly Twitter) account on May 5. "She gets a hug after a loss." "I've seen you not hug your wife after some losses," added Brunson's colleague and co-host Josh Hart. "That's a lie! Damn, man," Brunson said. "I just remember my dad always watching the show. You always hear the iconic 'dun dun' all the time in the house. My dad also watches the TV incredibly loud. I started from Season 1, watched all the way through. It's like a pregame show for me. I've always loved that show, and I've never been super super starstruck [but] I saw her and I was like, 'Oh, s--t.' The first time we met, it was awesome, and we talked and everything." "Like, he's there all the time," Brunson continued, pointing to Stiller. "I know he's coming to the game. I expect to see him there all the time. This was her first or second game this year and I'm not going to see her for a long time, so I'm just going to say 'Hi,' and go." "I guess I gotta come to less games," Stiller Hargitay shows up to support Brunson on the court, Brunson showed up to support Hargitay on the red carpet at the premiere of her new documentary, My Mom Jayne. Meyers shared a photo of the pair on the red carpet while Hargitay clutched her hand to her heart. "You support him and he's courtside with your documentary," Meyers accurately said.
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How to watch Jake Paul vs Chavez Jr: TV channel and live stream for boxing today
Jake Paul will make his return to the boxing ring tonight, meeting former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in California. The YouTuber-turned-fighter easily defeated a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, 31 years his senior, in his last bout in Texas in November on Netflix. Despite beating the former heavyweight champion, the age difference between the pair meant the win did preciously little for Paul's reputation. To triumph over Chavez Jr, though, could do plenty for Paul's boxing credibility. The former WBC middleweight champion, now 39, has a career record of 54-1-6, and has fought across a range of weight classes. Paul is unsurprisingly confident ahead of the fight, telling DAZN that he expected to 'embarrass' Chavez Jr, son of legendary former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Paul said: 'Knockout early rounds, it's easy. I, Jake Joseph Paul, will knock out Julio Cesar Chavez, Saturday June 28. I will embarrass him, and I will defeat him.' It could be the toughest test of Paul's short career to date, and whether he can deliver on that promise is in some doubt. He is set to be at cruiserweight for the bout, claiming he will be ranked by both the WBA and WBC if he impresses at Honda Center in Anaheim. TV channel and live stream: The fight will be available on DAZN on a pay-per-view basis, at a cost of £24.99 in the UK. A bundle package, which comes with Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II as a secondary option, is available for £39.99. Ring walks for the main event are expected at around 4am BST in the early hours of Sunday morning, which is 11pm ET and 8pm PT on Saturday night in the US. Live blog: Follow all the action on fight night with Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
This TikToker with depression shares what her day-to-day looks like — and it's not what you may think
TikToker Sam Souder makes a living sharing fashion and lifestyle content online — but she's also using her platform to talk about mental health. Peppered right alongside her outfit of the day and product review videos are Souder's 'day in my life with depression' TikToks, in which Souder shows how she manages her life while living with depression. The quick videos, set to Audrey Hobert's pop song 'Sue me,' show Souder going about her day: waking up late in the morning, taking her medication and getting work done even as she quietly struggles with symptoms like procrastination, exhaustion and executive functioning issues. The 27-year-old New Jersey-based creator was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when she was in high school and has been in therapy for more than 10 years. But to the outside world, Souder may not appear like she's struggling at all — which is why the influencer tells Yahoo it's so important for her to be transparent about the reality of her mental health. "I thought it was a fun and lighthearted way to introduce the topic,' Souder told Yahoo. 'I feel very privileged that I'm able to do influencing and these kinds of things. Sometimes it's hard to talk about mental health without sounding like you're complaining — there is a very fine line, and I'm so grateful for everything I've been able to do because of this job. This is one way I've been able to express how my day-to-day or my feelings unfold without being on a soapbox." Souder said that she's been struggling with her mental health more than usual recently, which has made her job as a full-time influencer more challenging — but has also given her a window to explore what her real life is like, as opposed to only sharing the highlight reel. That means using TikTok to show when she was unable to get out of bed for hours or even sharing a video of her messy bedroom that she felt too overwhelmed to clean. "It just didn't feel organic or right to come on here and, like, do my makeup and post outfits and try to act like everything was normal, when really, the depression I was having — and am still having — affects a lot of my thoughts and my day-to-day life,' Souder explained. 'Since I'm a lifestyle influencer and I post about what I do every day, it just made sense to start sharing that part of my life more organically — like without makeup on, still in bed, those kinds of things.' The feedback to these videos has been 'very, very positive,' Souder said. Her TikTok followers comment things on her videos like, 'Thank you for being so transparent,' and, 'I've been struggling hard with my depression for months now. Big win for you getting out of the house! Haven't been out from mine in a minute lol.' 'People were just like, 'I'm right there with you,' and said it helped them feel a little less alone,' Souder said of her comments. 'Because the thing about depression — it's a very, very lonely condition.' Saba Harouni Lurie, a licensed marriage and family therapist, told Yahoo that Souder's depression videos are a reprieve from social media content that 'makes it really hard to feel good about yourself.' Typically, Lurie said, what you're seeing on social media is 'a very curated version of someone's life.' You're viewing their highlight reel of when they're out with friends or on a beautiful, luxurious vacation. Ordinarily, Lurie pointed out, you're not privy to the other parts of someone on social media's life — like 'where they're in bed and they're having a hard time waking up in the morning, or when they're feeling insecure or unsure about themselves.' 'If we're seeing these curated versions, it can be really easy to slip into thought patterns of, well, I'm not experiencing life like that. I'm not feeling that way about myself,' Lurie explained. But while Souder may make some of this aspirational content, she's also showing both sides of her life. And Souder's videos can also help people recognize how depression and other mental health conditions can manifest in ways that go beyond what we might find typical. 'What I appreciate about the videos and the greater conversations that are happening is that they're opening the door to how we conceptualize depression,' Lurie said. 'For a long while, we were counting on external observations to know if somebody was depressed — if they're not able to get out of bed, if they're not eating, they're overeating, certainly suicidality. Now, there's room to acknowledge that depression can look many different ways.' Erin Bowman, a licensed clinical professional counselor, told Yahoo that social media conversations like the one Souder is sparking can also help people recognize that they may be experiencing some mental health difficulties. 'There can be this sense of, like, 'Oh no, that's not me. Like, I'm still able to go to work, I'm still able to, like, do X, Y, Z things,'' Bowman said. This is especially true for people who have so-called 'high-functioning' mental health struggles, where they're able to keep up with work or their social lives. And, Bowman noted, many women, as well as people socialized as women, struggle to recognize depression in themselves because they're taught to 'put a smile on' — even if, under the surface, they know they are having a 'really hard time.' As for Souder, she is just glad her videos are resonating. 'If I can help somebody else by sharing what I'm going through, then it makes it all worthwhile,' she said.
