Since its launch in September of 2023, Starfield has grown by leaps and bounds. Even with a gigantic galaxy to discover, Bethesda brought in a series of new additions, gameplay changes, and quality of life features over the months. These have improved the game by miles since its release. This guide contains all the significant post-release content that Bethesda has added to Starfield since the game’s release, such as vehicles, map systems, ship fixes, and fresh DLC.
Major Gameplay Features Added to Starfield since its Release
Planetary Vehicles – Surface Exploration Transformed
One of the most requested features since launch finally arrived with the REV-8 planetary vehicle. Arriving in the August 2024 patch, this terrain-aware buggy allows players to travel through planets much faster than ever before. Prior to that, players relied entirely on jetpacks and sprinting, something that made large planets feel exhausting at times. The inclusion of this vehicle really helped surface travel and exploration effectiveness.
Surface Maps – Navigation Finally Makes Sense
Bethesda finally offered the players what they desired with a much-delayed surface map update in May 2024. Previously, planetary surface navigation was a mess with no way points to even mention or proper mapping. All in one update, which made exploration so much less agonizing.
The new system introduced the following things:
- Better topographical maps.
- Better mission markers on planetary surfaces.
- Enhanced pathfinding for resource discovery and collection.
Ship Customization – More Than Cosmetic
Shipbuilding was a core feature at launch, but it was restricted. Bethesda’s patches post-launch added it to it with newer modules and ship components and custom paint schemes and liveries. It also improved balancing on ship systems like weapons, shields, and reactors.
Creation Tools, Mods, and DLC Expansions
The Creations Platform – Official Mod Support
Bethesda rolled out the Creations platform, a replacement for the Creation Club, on June 9, 2024. It had full mod support within the game’s menu itself, and it also had paid and community-created free mods, both from Bethesda itself and from community creators. Modding tools to make ships, quests, weapons, and other things were also present. This environment widely opened up Starfield content above and beyond the normal game.
Shattered Space DLC – A Dense Story Expansion
Launched in September 2024 Shattered Space brought with it a new handcrafted environment replete with a grand-sized narrative connected to the House Va’ruun faction, coupled with a fully fleshed-out interior and exterior environments with new equipment, gear, and enemies, topped with unique bosses and combat encounters. Despite being limited to a single planetary region, its very story-driven expansion complements the original game.
Quality-of-Life and Core System Improvements
UI Revamps and Map Bug Fixes
A number of patches upgraded the user interface, enhanced inventory management, and loading times. May 2025 patch, Patch 1.15.216, fixed ongoing issues with buggy quest lines, vehicle spawn bugs, UI responsiveness, and performance issues stemming from huge settlements and cities.
More Variety in New Game Plus
The New Game Plus feature released initially was made better with re-balanced difficulty scaling, increased randomized universe content, with Enhanced enemy types and loot. This made repeat playthroughs more rewarding and unpredictable.
Visual, Technical and Engine Upgrades
Creation Engine 2 – Still Evolving
Starfield continues to push the boundaries of its technology. Post-launch updates to the game improved real-time global illumination, planet surface tessellation, volumetric lighting, improved ambient occlusion, and stability improvements in crowded scenes. These changes weren’t cosmetic tweaks — they improved frame rates and load times, especially on lower hardware.
Story and Crew Content Updates
Bigger Faction Quests and Crew Systems
Bethesda added new mission chains, including the Tracker’s Alliance, building bounty hunting gameplay. Companion interactions and Crew AI were also enhanced, such as more predictable pathing, better combat AI, and new dialogue lines pertaining to active events and factions.
Platform Updates and The Road Ahead
Starfield Heading to PS5
Sneak peeks of the PS5 release started to appear at the start of 2025 after users discovered PlayStation icons accidentally posted on the Creations platform page. Still not officially announced, though rumors suggest Bethesda is preparing for cross-platform compatibility very soon.
What’s Next
More content was revealed by Bethesda recently, such as:
- More questlines.
- Faction expansions.
- More vehicles and planetary features.
- Further enhancements to mod support through Creations.
Conclusion
From planetary ships and high-end cartography to a rich narrative DLC and improved ship physics, Starfield has evolved significantly since its initial release. Bethesda’s plans are clear, whether performance tweaks, UI refinements, or major content additions, the studio is shaping Starfield into an evolving, dynamic universe and this galaxy-spanning adventure has only just started.
