Summary
One observantStarfieldfan has noticed something about the game’s upcoming expansion that ties it to another masssive Bethesda RPG,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Namely, it’s that withShattered Space, the first planned expansion forStarfield, Bethesda is actually using the term “expansion,” which hasn’t happened sinceThe Shivering Islesreleased in 2007.
TheShattered Spaceexpansionis expected to arrive sometime in Fall 2024, around a year afterStarfield’s official launch. Director Todd Howard has been relatively secretive about the details of the upcoming expansion, but he says it will focus on expanding the story introduced in the base game, although whether that means adding extra content to the end of the main storyline or introducing large-scale side story content is still unknown.The Shivering Islestook the latter route, transporting players to a new realm, where they intervened in the eternal conflict between Daedric Princes Sheogorath and Jyggalag.
The similarity betweenShattered SpaceandThe Shivering Isleswas pointed out on Reddit by user JarusinTheStars. Bethesda did release plenty ofadditional content for bothThe Elder Scrolls 5: SkyrimandFallout 4well after the release ofThe Shivering Isles,including the story-heavyDawnguardfor the former andNuka Worldfor the latter. However, the publisher referred to all this content as “DLC,” not “expansion,” leading some fans to believe thatShattered Spacemay contain a particularly large amount of new content forStarfieldplayers to dive into.
Fans are Expecting a Lot from Starfield’s Shattered Space Expansion
Even though there’s still so little information about whatShattered Spacewill contain, players have offered up a number of theories and wish lists for what they’d like to see. Some have even used the connection betweenStarfieldandOblivionto point out that the lore ofThe Elder Scrollswould allow for Starfield’s story to take place within it, andStarfield’s open-ended new game plusalternate universes offer a lot of variations from the starting timeline.
Still, not everyone is sold on the idea thatShattered Spacewill be bigger than theDLC released forFallout 4andSkyrim. A number of players were skeptical about the semantics, believing that others are trying to read too closely between the lines in hopes that the expansion will bring massive improvements to the game. WhileStarfieldbroke player counts for Bethesda early on, thanks in no small part to its day-one inclusion on Game Pass, its reviews from both professional critics and fans are nowhere near the height that previous Bethesda RPGs have reached over the last few decades, and it seems like many die-hardStarfieldplayers are pinning their hopes onShattered Spaceto elevate it to the level that theFalloutandThe Elder Scrollsseries have reached.
Starfield
WHERE TO PLAY
Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
