Starfield’s largest update since launch is coming on May 15

Bethesda has announced the release date for the biggest Starfield update since launch, which will bring map improvements, Xbox graphics options, and more.

[Zeref]

40fps and 60fps modes on Xbox is huge! Honestly didn't think it would be possible.
Too bad it wasn't there at launch but this and land vehicles definitely gets me way more excited to jump back in when Shattered Space drops.

[darthv72]

Very nice. I will jump back into it at 60fps like I did with Fallout.

[helicoptergirl]

The real thing here is... why didn't they have 60 FPS at launch?

I remember so many people defending them saying that it must not be possible to have 60 fps for that game. So many people defending Bethesda. Saying its too hard for 60 fps. I hope a "journalist" goes back and looks at all the excuses made for Bethesda releasing only 30 FPS. Go back and look ath all their excuses and the fans' excuses and do a write up of it all. Bethesda keep messing up and getting a pass imo.

Releasing 60 fps now for this game is simply not good enough

I'll tell you one thing, if I had bought and played Starfield at launch on Xbox SeriesX I would be so damned angry right about now.

[Futureshark]

I remember Phil Spencer announcing that Starfield was to run at 30fps as a 'creative decision'.

https://www.purexbox.com/ne...

This is one of the reasons why I'm no longer a Xbox fan, yet another example of Mr Spencer treating the public and their customers as idiots, feeding them basic marketing bullsh!t that anyone can actually see straight through.

And now their is an update over 6 months later to that game that has since lost all it's momentum it had at launch that not only improves performance but apparently adds all the QoL fixes that should have been there at launch (city maps for example).

What a load of baloney, going to wait until all this customer beta testing is finished and will get it on PS5 when on sale.

[LordoftheCritics]

60fps loading screen is still a loading screen.

[LOGICWINS]

Same. Very excited to hop in!

[obidanshinobi]

"40fps and 60fps modes on Xbox is huge! Honestly didn't think it would be possible."
Really? Have you played Starfield on the Series X ? It's not really a looker, many parts of it look very last gen, there's no doubt a base Xbox One could run it at 30fps if they toned down the resolution and some of the detail.

There are already better looking open world games that run at 60fps like Cyberpunk 2077, on the Series X.

The Series X could easily run Starfield at 60fps, it's just the developers couldn't be arsed to prioritise it.
Seems to be a recurring problem within Xbox Studios, Redfall and the upcoming Hellblade 2 are other examples.
And let's not forget that Aaron Greenberg tweeted in 2020 (around March I think) that 60fps would be the standard for the Series consoles.

[Zeref]

I'm not sure what game you've been playing but the Starfield I've been playing looks amazing. Only the characters don't look that great but everything else looks amazing.

[Goosejuice]

I don't think he said starfield looks bad, cyberpunk looks better though and has wayy more going on. There was no reason for starfield to be 30 fps. It was an unfinished game when they released it. You could tell just with the maps..how do u release a game with the maps they had for cities? In was terrible.

[Tacoboto]

Way to bury the best news here! Thanks Zeref for already sharing.

"You can now select your own frame rate target for Starfield if you're on a VRR display, allowing you to choose between 30, 40, 60, and Uncapped."

I'm glad I've waited to finish it. The PC version with frame gen feels great but I'll happily play it on my Xbox again away from my desk

[darthv72]

I just started fallout 4 for the first time and did so because of the new patch that was released. I play it in performance mode from my SX through my g cloud and it works really well. I plan on doing the same with this one when it drops.

[Snookies12]

What happened to the 30 FPS lock on consoles being a "developer choice"? I refused to touch it on console because of that. I honestly got pretty bored of the game after about 15-20 hours, but maybe I'll go back after a lot of updates. Still sad to see things like the map being fixed, and FPS options that should have been there in the first place. Being added in so much later.

[darthv72]

the 30fps lock was the developer choice because they could not get 60 to be consistent (at that time). They could have offered 40fps as a trade off but I guess they were wanting to do more work to get 60. And now they got things working to support both 40 and 60 (on the SX) so you can rest easy now and enjoy it.

[helicoptergirl]

That isn't good enough. Other devs work hard and launch with 60 FPS. But it's Bethesda right? They always get a pass

[Neonridr]

@helicoptergirl - so either have something available at launch or don't improve a game moving forward.

That's quite the rationale you got going on there.

[Eonjay]

It seems pretty obvious just looking at the game that expecting it to run at 60 should definitely be achievable. We saw a similar thing happen with Redfall and now with Hellblade. The games are being pushed out too early. Its great that they are now getting 60 FPS... I can saw for sure that this makes me a lot more likely to buy the game when it comes out on PS5.

[romulus23]

That's not a "developer choice" it's a developer incapability and a parent company not willing to wait eight months for them to become capable. No one should "rest easy" when they have to wait upwards of a year for developers to deliver on promises they made. They had plenty of resources being under Microsoft's umbrella, there's no excuse for them not getting a consistent 60 (at that time).

[Lightning77]

I agree 100%. These devs need to be up front about why console is 30. In fact I don't believe for a second HB2 was a dev choice but ran out of time. Despite having plenty of time already.

Makes no sense how much dev time does a game need to be in a pipeline in order to be 60 at launch? Even after delays its still 30. MS needs to get this sorted out with their next batch of games but I doubt they will. I think Indy might be 30 despite it being another linear experience and Avowed might be as well going by MS feature incomplete track record.

[Zeref]

Avowed is 60

[Tacoboto]

I'm confident with Avowed and Indiana both being 60.

Avowed has the 60fps gameplay footage, after their commitment to do better after Redfall.

Indy's footage is 60fps too and runs on id Tech.

[chicken_in_the_corn]

Because it was exactly that. Their choice.

[andy85]

Remember all the excuses from 'fans' about why 60 fps wasn't possible on Xbox consoles. It obviously was they just couldn't be bothered.

[CobraKai]

Im still hoping for the landing cutscenes for previously visited planets

[purple101]

Digital foundry: "its CPU limited"

ohhh really..>?

[CrimsonWing69]

Are there any cuts to make it be able to run at 60FPS? Like, can you tell me if you’re only allocated enough memory in a game to optimize performance on top of everything in it, what was removed to get it to run at 60fps?

[P_Bomb]

@crimson
If you pause the video during one of the menu shots, there’s a screen tearing warning. Says performance mode will need VRR to avoid it. I don’t have a TV with VRR, so it appears 60fps will cost me some tear unfortunately.

[darthv72]

It did not seem like a CPU related issue... more of a memory issue. One they have been able to resolve.

[Redgrave]

It is good that this is coming, though it does beg the question of the why it wasn't available at launch. The FPS modes, I mean.
I'm not even saying that in a bad way, just looking back and the 'creative decision' reasoning given.

[lucian229]

Wasn't available at launch because launch players as usual were beta testers for Bethesda

[attilayavuzer]

I'm guessing the optimizations they've made for vehicles have opened up enough resources to push frames. Vehicles maybe weren't on the roadmap at launch so they weren't anticipating any big changes to performance. All speculation of course.

[InUrFoxHole]

Hells yes

[The_Hooligan]

It just works!

[Abear21]

Congrats Bethesda on finishing development on Starfield!

This is why Fallout next gen release was meh, hopefully this is worth it.

[anast]

If they make people pay for land vehicles, The Oracle will be right.

[PrecursorOrb]

Hooray!!! Launch features!

[darksky]

This is what it should have been at launch.

[Firebird360]

The game wasn't finished at launch, that much is evident. We're not about to recieve the completed version.

[Doomeduk]

I heard from my cat that Phil and Todd pitched it to Sony execs and after much begging asking Sony to "throw us a bone we're dying here " Sony executive replied "you need to reach this height sonny before you ride on here "pointing to a chart that goes up to 60 Fps
I'd take what my cat said with a pinch of salt though

[raWfodog]

Another example of a good reason (at least for me) to forego buying games when they first release. They almost always get updated to look and run (and play) better down the road.

[Demetrius]

When this game came out I ain even say none about it, I don't like bashing games cause I sincerely enjoy gaming but it's still messed up how most devs are forced to release games in a tragedy state imagine if they just allow the devs to finish they're work and release it that would allow them to get prepared to work on another gem, like how cd projekt did they haven't released a game in 4 goin on 5 years now and we still have to wait, so hopefully starfield turns out better