Bethesda releases trailer for Shattered Space, Starfield’s first major expansion

Bethesda has formally revealed Shattered Space, the upcoming horror-themed premium DLC for its spacefaring RPG, Starfield. In addition to this paid expansion, Starfield has also received a free content update, which adds mod support via the Creation Club and new missions. Many of these additions were promised last year as part of the game’s post-launch roadmap.

In the trailer for the expansion, the player finds themself investigating Dazra, the hidden homeworld for the mysterious House Va’Ruun faction. Bethesda’s website promises that the player will “investigate a frightening cosmic threat, explore a new planet, and find unique weapons, spacesuits, and gear in this all-new adventure.” The expansion doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but the trailer confirms that it is at least set to come out this year.

In addition, the 1.12.30 update for Starfield is here. As per the breakdown of the new content on the website, Starfield now has Creation Club support, allowing players to download free and premium new content, including developer-made content and DLC created by the player community. In addition, the game has received new bounty hunting missions via the Trackers Alliance organisation. A “bounty scanner system” has also been introduced, enabling the player to identify targets with bounties on their heads. You can choose to terminate these bounties, or find a more peaceful resolution.

The new update hasn’t just brought new missions to Starfield; there are more general gameplay improvements as well. These mostly relate to the game’s weapon crafting system, which now has new tiers for melee weapons, and the ability to modify melee weapons when crafting. Players can now also craft ammo, although you must research your preferred ammo type at a Research Station before it can be crafted at an Industrial Workbench.

Will Shattered Space be the expansion Starfield needs to win back fans disappointed with the game when it released last year? Only time will tell, but the eldritch horror theme of the adventure seems like a compelling change of pace from the main campaign. The Creation Club support and new missions are currently available on Starfield, with the Shattered Space premium expansion set to release this year.