Summary
- Official modding tools for Starfield will be released in 2024, continuing Bethesda's tradition that started with the Creation Kit for Skyrim over a decade ago.
- The popularity and success of Starfield have not been disrupted by the negative reviews due to Xbox exclusivity, with its exceptional modding potential being a significant appeal.
- While fans may have to wait for a specific release date, the announcement of official mod support in the future is welcome news for aspiring modders and will likely increase the number of available mods for the game.
Bethesda's Todd Howard has revealed that official modding tools for Starfield are coming in 2024, although he did not specify when in the coming year the tools would be released. A set of officially supported tools for mod creation in Starfield would continue a Bethesda tradition that began with the extremely well-received Creation Kit released for Skyrim over a decade ago.
Since its release earlier this month, Bethesda's newest RPG Starfield has proven immensely popular, seeing massive commercial success and mostly positive reviews from fans and critics. Irritation over the title's Xbox exclusivity has led some to review bomb Starfield on Metacritic and other platforms, but this has done little to disrupt the game's momentum. A significant part of the appeal of Starfield, much like other Bethesda RPGs, has been its exceptional modding potential.
In an interview with the Japanese magazine Famitsu, Starfield Game Director Todd Howard revealed that modding the game could soon become even easier, stating that official mod support "will be available next year." Howard did not give a more precise time frame in the interview, so fans could be waiting anywhere from three months to a whole year to get their hands on these modding tools. Howard remained similarly vague when discussing the upcoming Shattered Space DLC for Starfield in the interview, saying that "when it will be released is a secret."
The rest of the Famitsu interview consisted of various questions about the development process behind Starfield and its inspirations. Howard offered insights into the impressive procedural generation used in Starfield to create content-rich planets for players to explore, as well as other aspects of the design philosophy and technological innovations that went into the game. He also spoke highly of the iconic Ultima series as a source of inspiration for him in his career as a game developer. Howard said that playing RPGs like the Ultima series formed some of his favorite memories growing up, and he started making games in hopes of creating similar memories for a new generation of players.
Even though official mod support may not be coming for Starfield until 2024, the modding community has already been hard at work since the game's release, and there is no shortage of amazing Starfield mods available right now for players to enjoy. Howard's announcement will nonetheless be welcome news for aspiring modders who lack the confidence or technical expertise to jump straight into the code and start making mods from scratch, and the release of official mod tools will no doubt see a sharp increase in the number of mods available for this already popular title.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Famitsu