Starfield giveth and Starfield taketh away. The most recent update for the game focused on modding, giving a way for players to make their own mods easily and install them easily. This Creation Club follows on from similar features in both Fallout 4 and Skyrim: Special Edition, and just like in those games some mods are free but others require a paid transaction. As you might imagine, this hasn’t gone over very well with much of the community.
Earlier in the week there was a backlash in response to one particular paid mod, due to the first part being released for free with the follow up being quite hefty in price. Now the backlash has spread to Steam, with Starfield reviews hitting the mostly negative classification over the last 30 days. The RPG is definitely getting a battering, despite many mods receiving a positive response from the community.
It isn’t modding as a whole that’s the problem, it’s simply the addition of paid mods to the game which is causing friction despite Bethesda doing the same thing with two prior titles. From pricing to the feeling that the game is being wrung dry for every penny, the sentiment among the community has soured especially over the last few days.
“Let’s make sure we can squeeze all the money out of this game, before we put it to bed forever,” says one review by Steam user FoxyMoxy. “Really? Pay per mission?” says another by BinaryViolence. “The game already feels incomplete and now they want me to pay more for stuff that should have already been in the game on launch,” reads one more, this time by a user by the name of Doopywoopy.
While not all negative reviews in recent days directly mention the Creation Club, bounty hunter quest, or paid modding, the majority do. At the time of writing, Starfield’s reviews are sitting at 39% for the last 30 days, and it’s dropping fast.
Meanwhile over on the game’s subreddit, the tone has shifted slightly in a more positive direction. This is mostly due to the work of modders themselves, releasing free things that are slowly overhauling people’s experiences in Starfield. It’s yet to be seen if this rising tide of popularity will spread to the game’s Steam reviews, or if the overall implementation of modding will remain a bitter taste in the mouths of fans.
If you would like to extend the life of your game, why not check out our guide to the best Starfield mods. Or you can head into something else with our list of the best space games you can play.
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