Summary
- A DLC for Starfield called Shattered Space is highly anticipated and will offer new content for both veteran and new players, adding more possibilities to the game.
- The DLC has the potential to expand on underdeveloped aspects of the game, such as the House Va'ruun content, background lore, and random interactions in space.
- A Shattered Space DLC could also improve the New Game Plus experience, among many other loose ends in the game.
Starfield's 1000 planets already have a ton of content that most players have likely not explored fully, a DLC follow-up opens the door to many new possibilities in the game. A new DLC with expanded content will not only give veteran players who have completed the game something new to do, but it may even be enough to attract new players to the title.
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While little is currently known about Shattered Space, as Bethesda hasn't released much official information about it, those who purchased the or Constellation Edition of the game will automatically receive it when it is released. If the game follows the release schedule for other big titles from the developers like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or Fallout 4, a Starfield Shattered Space DLC should happen sometime in the first half of 2024.
[Warning: This article contains story spoilers for Starfield.]
10 Expanded House Va'ruun Content
As one of the main players in the Colony War, it's quite a shame that Starfield doesn't have more House Va'ruun content. Outside a side quest involving the companion Andreja, there really isn't much in of the worshippers of The Great Serpent. A Shattered Space DLC could remedy this by adding more Va'ruun content in the further reaches of space or adding a few undiscovered Va'ruun-controlled star systems to the map that adventurers could explore. After all, even Andreja later reveals she can't even return to her homeland, so discovering a hidden slate or following an enemy Va'ruun ship may be a decent route to introduce the new content.
9 Background Lore On The Starborn And Temples
One of Starfield's least developed game mechanics and open-ended storylines is that of the enigmatic Starborn faction — interdimensional travelers with immense power. While by the start of New Game Plus, there's a ton uncovered and explained, there's also still a lot that's left up for interpretation.
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A key piece of lore that needs further elaboration is the temples that provide the protagonist with unique powers they can implement in battle. It's still unknown who created the Starborn and their powers or if there is any greater power associated with the artifacts or the game's themes. Answers to whether Unity is a natural occurrence or if there are greater forces at work, as alluded to by the Sanctum Universum, provide space for the game's storytellers to flesh out these end-game concepts better.
8 More Random Interactions
Once the core Starfield faction quests are completed, one of the most fun things to do in the game is just explore space and encounter different ships along the way. While some of these interactions are quite pleasant, like sharing a hot meal with a space-traveling Grandma, others are thrilling, like random run-ins with Spacers. Adding more of these random elements in the game will give people more reason to explore space, which may be inherently lacking due to the game's fast travel system.
7 Continuation Of Random Sidequests
Many major and minor sidequests can be completed in Starfield without affecting the actual game world. A Shattered Space DLC could remedy this by expanding upon some sidequests' effects on the Settled Systems. One example includes the rogue AI known as Juno. After the completion of this random sidequest, the sentient AI launched by NASA blasts off into space, never to be heard from again. Having it return later to destroy ships or perhaps even creating a robot faction of its own would be a refreshing twist to the narrative.
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There are many other examples of this, including the destruction of the gangs of Neon or the downfall of the UC Sys Def or the Crimson Fleet. Though some of these post-quest effects feel lacking in the base game, they could be fixed in a future DLC.
6 More Changes To New Game Plus
While a few neat changes occur to the main Constellation crew after multiple New Game Plus runs, it would be disingenuous to say the experience doesn't feel lacking. From a logical standpoint, entering a new dimension would likely be similar to Starfield's New Game Plus experience, but from a storytelling standpoint, it leaves much to be desired. Bethesda could go completely all-out for an expansion, as many people who played the game will probably have reached New Game Plus at that point.
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Adding more variance for each New Game Plus run or completely overhauling entire storylines would increase the player base's excitement and may cause many to replay the game again.
5 Melding Together Timelines
While it would be harder to implement, it could be interesting to see a melding of different timelines after multiple New Game Plus playthroughs. Decisions of the past could come back to haunt, or they could take it in an even more theoretical direction and have the protagonist shift between different dimensions, similar to the "Entangled" mission in Starfield. While this could be jarring to newer players of the title, it'll give much more content and room for experimentation to Starfield veterans.
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This could also open the opportunity for romances in Starfield to transcend space and time. It's quite the romantic theme for a game where players kill Spacers and giant alien bugs.
4 Continuing Main Faction Mission Stories
One of the most obvious ways that a Starfield Shattered Space DLC could improve upon the base game is by extending the main quests involving the United Colonies, Ryujin Industries, Constellation, and Freestar Collective. While many of these missions feel like they have a solid beginning, middle, and end, there could be more that happens after the final missions for each faction. Extended quests into unknown territories, or even new galaxies, could add hours of content to the game and help tie up a few loose ends provided by the base game's narrative.
3 Humanoid Aliens
While Starfield's various star systems are impressive on their own, it would be nice for the Shattered Space DLC to include technological advancement that allows those of the Settled Systems to settle new systems — and perhaps, along the way, run across a few humanoid aliens. After all, not being able to create an alien in the character creator is pretty disappointing, especially when a plethora of other games enable the creation of a non-human character.
While creating an entirely new species of character would probably be a heavy lift for Starfield's creators, it would be a cool, albeit unlikely, introduction to the game. Currently, all alien lifeforms in Starfield are reduced to ravenous beasts, so it would be cool to see another type of alien that more resembles the human species. From a scientific point of view, and even in the game's own point of view, there are so many variable possibilities for a universe it seems unlikely that one wouldn't include a humanoid alien species.
2 Mechs
In Starfield, it's explained through the game's narrative that, at one point, giant controllable mechs were more than prevalent in warfare and were actually outright banned after the Colony War. While there are a few remnants of the giant death machines, like a former pilot in Akila City and a defunct mech manufacturing plant, there aren't any controllable mechs in the game.
The Starfield base game has a great foundation already to create custom machines via its spaceship creator, so the thought of a ground vehicle that can dock to the ship isn't too much of a stretch. In addition to just being plain cool, it would also give an alternative to running and fast traveling, something that Starfield could use.
1 All-Out Faction War
While the title Shattered Space could mean a variety of things, one thing it could mean is an all-out faction-wide war between the major players in the Settled Systems. After all, since the Colony War, many of the bonds between factions are tenuous at best, with each staking claim over different star systems. Ultimately, Starfield never asks people to pick a side other than a few quests, but the expanded DLC could change this. This new narrative could lead to major plot developments, like the party's fracturing and inability to land on certain planets depending on the territory.
Indeed, a large-scale all-out Colony War 2 would be quite the different Starfield game, leaving open the door of innumerable plot and narrative directions. For those who felt somewhat underwhelmed by the main narrative arc for the base game, a Starfield Shattered Space DLC that included such a war could be something that would excite even the biggest detractors of the game.
