Following the announcement of the upcoming release of Starfield's first story expansion, Shattered Space, game director Todd Howard gave more insights into what to expect in the DLC as well as future plans for Starfield.
Bethesda Plans for More Starfield Story Expansion Releases
Todd Howard Confirms New Expansion After Shattered Space
Starfield game director Todd Howard discussed Bethesda's expansion plans for the game in a recently uploaded interview with YouTube channel MrMattyPlays. The hour-long conversation covered a range of topics, including the game’s growing player base and future content plans.
When asked if Bethesda intends to release story expansions on an annual basis, Howard responded, "I would say we want to, more or less, yeah." He further elaborated on the studio's long-term vision, saying, "How long that continues... hopefully a very long time, but we’re planning for the one after this, so there will be another one."
Shattered Space Has Similar Scope to Fallout 4's Far Harbor
Shattered Space, set to release later this year, is the first story expansion for Starfield. Howard compared its scope to Far Harbor, the largest of Fallout 4’s expansions. Far Harbor introduced a substantial amount of content including new landmass that expanded in-game map size, new dungeons, quests, creatures, and other features, setting a high bar for what players can expect from Shattered Space.
"One of the things that we always liked about it from the get-go, and I don’t think people realize, is that Shattered Space, the bulk of that expansion pack, once you get to the city and the planet, it takes place there," Howard explained. "It allows us to build a landscape like we would traditionally do and have the city and the quests. And so, that story takes place there and the landscape’s kind of, content wise, we’re looking at kind of like what we did with Far Harbor on Fallout 4."
Howard said that the scope of Shattered Space aligns well with Bethesda’s development capabilities, allowing them to releases annual expansions for Starfield. "This is a scope that works for our development in doing this kind of annual story expansion type of thing," he added, "and it lets us kind of do some things the way we would in previous games, and give people not completely that experience because it’s still Starfield, but this new kind of alien world that you’re able to explore and it takes place there."
Shattered Space Won't Answer All Questions Related to Lore
Howard noted that while the DLC will enrich Starfield’s universe, it won’t answer every question about game lore. "We sort of look at it and say, 'Hey, what's a good angle? What do we want to add to the game as far as an experience or a tone or those kinds of things,' if that makes sense," he said, suggesting that future expansions will continue to explore new facets of the game’s lore and mechanics.
The first trailer for Shattered Space debuted during the recent Xbox Games Showcase, revealing the expansion's cosmic horror elements and theme. The expansion will feature a mysterious power stirring in the city of Dazra on House Va’ruun’s hidden homeworld. Players will need to investigate a frightening cosmic threat and explore a new planet.
Elsewhere in the YouTube interview, Howard revealed that Starfield has reached over 14 million players, with an average playtime of 40 hours. He also mentioned that development on Shattered Space began back in September, shortly after Starfield’s initial launch.
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Bethesda is targeting annual story expansions for Starfield
