Bethesda Design Director Addresses Fan Concern as Starfield DLC Shattered Space Plunges to ‘Mostly Negative’ Steam Review Rating

Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC was meant to usher in a new era for Bethesda’s divisive space game Starfield, rekindling memories of the studio’s great DLCs of the past such as Fallout 4’s Far Harbor. But following its launch last month, things haven’t gone to plan.

Sci-fi RPG Starfield launched in September 2023 as Bethesda’s first brand new intellectual property in years and its first mainline single-player game since Microsoft bought parent company ZeniMax Media in March 2021. IGN’s Starfield review returned a 7/10. We said: “Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.”

A year later, Shattered Space has a ‘mostly negative’ user review rating on Steam, as Starfield players complain about everything from a lack of value to boring quest design.

Now, Emil Pagliarulo, studio design director at Bethesda Game Studios, has responded to one fan’s concern about not just Starfield and Shattered Space, but the direction Bethesda is headed. This concern was prompted by a GamesRadar interview with Pagliarulo who enthusiastically bigged up the expansion. This, the fan said, suggested Bethesda was dismissive of community concern around Starfield.

In a series of tweets, Pagliarulo responded directly to this suggestion and more generally to the ongoing discourse around Starfield and Bethesda. “My optimism is in no way meant to be mud in the eye of any dissatisfied fan,” Pagliarulo insisted. “That's not how it works.”

Pagliarulo went on to say “I’m also very proud of Shattered Space. We all are,” and confirmed that most of the quests and levels in the expansion were developed by designers who worked on previous Bethesda games and DLC, going all the way back to 2002 masterpiece Morrowind. “They’re good at what they do, and it shows,” he added.

“If folks haven’t played Shattered Space, and they like Starfield, I think they’re missing out,” Pagliarulo continued. “If folks have played Shattered Space and still don’t like it, that makes me sad, honestly. Just know that we’ve also been hearing from plenty of people who love it.”

Pagliarulo offered an explanation of sorts for this apparent disconnect between the way he views Shattered Space and how fans have reacted to it. “Maybe it’s a game of expectations,” he suggested. “Fans want a lot, and we do all we can to accommodate them. Here’s what I can tell you – nobody, and I mean nobody, at Bethesda is patting themselves on the back while ignoring our players.”

Now Shattered Space is out, fans have wondered what’s next for Starfield. In June, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard said the company was committed to supporting Starfield, which has seen 14 million players across PC and Xbox Series X and S, and confirmed at least one other story expansion would release following Shattered Space. Howard said Bethesda is aiming to release an annual story expansion for “hopefully a very long time.”

Pagliarulo reiterated this commitment of support, saying Bethesda will continue to address community concerns and make fixes while “listening to our fans every step of the way.”

“Starfield is a massive game, and it takes time for us to address things,” he explained. “We move as fast as we can, as safely as we can. Game development is always tricky, but with a game as big as Starfield, every fix could potentially break something else.

“To close, let me just say… I love games. I love Bethesda’s games. I’ve been playing them since the Terminator days. All I or anyone here wants to do is make those games and then make them better. No ego. No arrogance. Just a lot of hard work, and appreciation of our fans.”

It’s a busy time for the 450-person Bethesda Game Studios, which currently operates five teams: Starfield; Elder Scrolls 6; Fallout 76; mobile; and external development partnerships. It’s working on the aforementioned Elder Scrolls 6, ongoing content for Fallout 76, various mobile games, updates for older games, and, eventually, the next Fallout.

But will Starfield see a sequel? If it does materialize it may be some time before we see anything of it, with Elder Scrolls 6 expected no earlier than 2028 and another Fallout game set to follow.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].