Gamescom ’24: Starfield gets new update today, Shattered Space hits next month

Bethesda revealed that sci-fi aRPG Starfield has gotten surprise drop with a big update, and Shattered Space is en route for September.

Surprise!

Revealed at Gamescom today, Bethesda has a pretty packed set of Starfield announcements for fans. That slate begins with a chunky update which has actually debuted with a surprise drop today, which includes a new vehicle, bug fixes, and some visual updating.

But while the quality of life stuff is great and all, it’s the jet-powered, rocket launching REV-8 that’s the biggest reason to download the August update. While it’s a buggy, the new wheels should provide players with a little extra protection as they make their way across Starfield’s collection of worlds.

To launch the vehicle in-game, players will have to head to a ship service technician, who can add the module to their ship. Once they’ve done that, the REV-8 will deploy outside of wherever said players happen to land their craft.

The REV-8 comes equipped with a mounted turret, armor for additional protection when driving, room for a companion, and boosters to cover ground more quickly or get out of a sticky situation. Boosters can even add some jump to the ride, allowing players to sail through the air and reach areas that would have previously been much tougher to get to. 

Bethesda press release

Along with the REV-8, we did mention a host of improvements. Those will bring Starfield’s specs on the Xbox Series S in line with it on the Series X, so players should have parity no matter where they play. Scroll down to check out the main bullets, or click here to take a look at the full list.

• Frame Rate Target: You can now choose between 30, 40, 60 or an Uncapped frame rate on VRR displays. If you do not have a VRR display running 120hz, you will still be able to select from 30 or 60. Screen tearing may occur at times when selecting 60 on a non-VRR display.   
• Prioritize: You can now prioritize between Visuals and Performance while trying to maintain the frame rate target. If you’re choosing a frame rate target of 60 or above, we recommend changing this to Performance. Prioritizing Visuals keeps the highest resolution while maintaining full detail for special effects, lighting, and crowds. Prioritizing Performance lowers internal resolution and detail for special effects, lighting, and crowds. Both modes may adjust internal resolution dynamically when scenes or action get heavier as well. When switching between modes, you will see the lighting change briefly as the system catches up to the new mode.   
• VSync: You can now toggle between VSync off or on. Choosing off will separate the game frames from the monitor’s refresh rate and may result in screen tearing. Toggling On will synchronize the frame rate to the monitor’s refresh rate avoiding screen tearing but limiting number of frames. 

Bethesda press release

Again the above should be out as you read this for the Xbox and PC versions of Starfield.

I’m Shattered

While the above update arrived today, there’s much more on the horizon for fans of Bethesda’s sci-fi epic. Namely, that’d be the Shattered Space DLC. The expansion will send players into the “new city of Dazra on House Va’Ruun’s hidden homeworld” for additional planet-side action.

There they’ll find “unique weapons, spacesuits, and gear”, but also a whole new story. Bethesda hasn’t dug into that new narrative all that deeply just yet, but describes the questline as including a “frightening cosmic threat”, so it does seem like it could add on a good chunk of playability. And it should be noted too, that along with the mission, players will also be able to explore world itself.

All of this isn’t far off either, so if you’re looking to expand your galactic adventures, Shattered Space has been officially dated for September 30th, 2024. Fans who have the Premium or Constellation Editions of Starfield can hit that download as soon as it’s available too, as Shattered Space is included with both.