Bethesda's Xbox and PC exclusive Starfield already confirmed its first story DLC expansion will be called Shattered Space.
The sci-fi RPG was released in September 2023 to mixed reactions, allowing players to join a group of space explorers and venture across an open world of the Milky Way galaxy in search of mysterious artifacts.
Launch content for Starfield included over 1000 planets to explore, a 30-to-40-hour main story to complete, and the ability to fully customize a planetary settlement and ship.
When Will Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC Release?
Bethesda officially announced the first DLC for Starfield during one of its pre-release live streams, confirming Shattered Space as the name of the expansion.
The Starfield "End of Year" blog post confirmed the studio is "hard at work" on development at the moment and it will be "coming next year," revealing it will release at some point in 2024:
"And lastly, the team is hard at work on the development of 'Shattered Space,' our first major expansion coming next year."
In late February this year, a new piece of untilted DLC appeared in the Steam database for Starfield. This may be a sign Bethesda is far along in preparing to release Shattered Space and a reveal may be nearing.
Going back to Fallout 4, Bethesda announced its DLC plans in a blog post in February 2016 after releasing the game in May 2016. The first major DLC Automatron was then released in March 2016, around a month later.
As such, if Shattered Space were to be revealed in the coming weeks, the first expansion could arrive in late Spring or more likely into Summer.
How To Buy Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC
Players can now essentially pre-order Starfield's Shattered Space expansion by purchasing the Premium or Constellation Edition of the game, both of which come with the cost of the DLC included in the price tag.
The Premium Edition retails on the Xbox Store for $99.99, but those who have already purchased the game in its Standard Edition can upgrade to the more expensive version and essentially pre-order the DLC for $34.99.
Outside purchasing the Premium Edition of Starfield, Shattered Space ought to also be told separately as has been the case for most previous Bethesda DLCs.
While an exact price point has yet to be confirmed the $99.99 Premium Edition is priced $30 higher than the $69.99 Standard Edition. As such, the DLC will likely cost somewhere around the $30 mark, give or take a few dollars.
The DLC is expected to be purchasable from the Xbox digital store when it eventually releases later in the year.
What Will Be Included in Starfield: Shattered Space?
Describing the Shattered Space DLC in the "End of Year" blog post, Bethesda promised "new story content, new locations, new gear, and much more."
As such, fans will likely be treated to plenty of new planets to explore, adding to the over 1000 that were there from launch. These ought to include some completely new types of environments to land on that will add more variety to the gameplay and presumably play into the new story missions.
Looking back to Fallout 4, the last major open-world title from Bethesda Game Studios, each of the major DLCs took between five and 11 hours on average to complete the main storyline content.
As games and expectations of DLC expansions have evolved since then, it would not be shocking to push Shattered Space toward the higher end of that range with additional new side content to enjoy too.
In terms of story, many have theorized it will dive into the origins of House Va’ruun, a group renowned for its military and religious dedication to the Great Serpent, with the faction now dispersed across the galaxy following several wars.
Known for their religious zeal and military might, the cabal’s members worship a deity called the Great Serpent. Following the breakout of several wars, the group was fractured and its followers were displaced across the parts of the colonized galaxy known as the Settled Systems.
Beyond that, there will undoubtedly be a fresh assortment of weapons, gear, and cosmetics to unlock across the main storyline and other new missions.
Will There Be More Starfield DLC After Shattered Space?
The announcement for Shattered Space referred to it as "the first major expansion" for Starfield, seemingly confirming Bethesda has plenty more content planned to be released beyond the upcoming DLC.
Once again turning back time to Fallout 4, Bethesda released six new DLCs monthly from March to August 2016, four of which included major story expansions, while the rest featured more minor updates.
Fans could perhaps see a similar model translate to Starfield as Bethesda rotates from major story additions to smaller packs to keep the game fresh.
In the case of both Fallout 4 and Skyrim, each of the major DLC releases was spread only one to two months apart.
So once the first expansion lands for Starfield, it wouldn't be surprising to see at least one or two more this year.
Starfield is available now for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
