Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios Upcoming Title Options

[mALX]

I really don't know where we all are getting this idea that Bethesda is doing poorly financially, getting stagnant, etc. Not trying to get on anyone's case here, but I see this getting propagated all the time when I don't know where people are getting these ideas from. Let's not mistake any of our personal opinions about the games to be representative of what the overall gaming population thinks--or that gaming forums in general are representative of gamers for that matter. Gaming forums also tend to just make stuff up or believe some unverified or flat-out false info because they want to believe it. Well, that last part goes for the Internet as a whole.

Getting bought out doesn't necessarily mean you are doing poorly financially. Sometimes they get bought out specifically because they rake in profit. That's exactly what's happening here. This isn't pre-Morrowind Bethesda, where there actually was the danger of going out of business and their games were selling poorly (which is ironic, given that the MW fanboys claim Oblivion and Skyrim were the ones that "sold out" to appeal to a wider audience). Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Skyrim: Special Edition all made obscene amounts of cash for Bethesda and made them a real household name for gaming. And for all the [censored] that Fallout 76 gets--some deserved, some undeserved--I'm willing to bet that it's been a reasonable success so far. Not like it's series predecessor or Skyrim by any means, but it's gaming forums that are jumping to the conclusion that 76 has been a flop. That's because most of them don't like or even hate the game.

And that's all well and good, even though I like the game but think it has a serious lack of polish (which is why I recommend it only a big sale), but gaming forums really need to stop propagating things because they want to believe in them, or believe their opinions are facts. For example, how is Bethesda becoming stagnant? Fallout 76 was released in 2018 and is still getting content. Even though it is much more so Zenimax, Bethesda has still had a level of involvement in ESO. Fallout 4 was in 2015. Skyrim was in 2011. That's a pretty normal rate of output for them, maybe a little bit slower. People are also really starved for new Bethesda (the main studio) stuff, regardless of their gripes, so that helps make it seem like Bethesda is slowing down. But Bethesda is also not the juggernaut that, say, EA or Ubisoft are, where they can crank out multiple games in a year like it's nothing. They're more of a medium-sized studio, despite being AAA.

Look, I have my issues with Bethesda and Zenimax, too. There's plenty of things I criticize in Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and ESO, even though I have a lot of fun with all of them. No one is above criticism, especially big businesses. And they should be held accountable. But I think people are really taking this too far and spinning stories in their head. Bethesda is doing just fine from a financial standpoint. And that's exactly why Microsoft wanted them and Zenimax.

I agree with this. Microsoft has been bankrolling Bethesda and investing in it for decades; (which is why Windows and XBox always got Bethesda games at least a month or two before Sony Playstation got them) and they probably just offered them a much bigger deal for the exclusivity to knock Sony Playstation out of the competition completely for their games. (like Sony has knocked Microsoft out of several of their game franchises).

Bethesda is not the most prolific game studio (like EA is) but they are still churning out new versions of the same content in Skyrim and just renaming it "Game of the Year," "Special Edition," and "Anniversary Edition" to make several more billions of dollars on it = and we all jump up and keep buying the same content over and over again = they don't have to crank out names, just change the titles, lol.

Seriously = I just bought Oblivion Remastered, haven't even gotten 5 hours into it and the Steam sale comes out with the base Oblivion game for sale for 3 dollars and I was pulling out my credit card for it! I pay extra for any additional content every single time (like the soundtracks, etc) and buy any merch they come up with.

Bethesda is not hurting for money, they are building their brand even bigger by this merger. And I guarantee their deal with Microsoft was VERY lucrative for them to say goodbye to the Sony dollars, but Sony was always an issue with them anyway because it was coded totally different than XBox and Windows plus the bandwidth issues that Sony has.

[Renee]

Not that I'm in a hurry to modify my game but.... I'm reading thru this thread when coming across the ghast's words below.

Mods created outside CC were not eligible for inclusion, as Beth did not have creative control. And that is why the CC mods all suck.

Is this true? Being on Xbox atm, I only have access to Creation Club stuff, there is no option to just go into a menu and add user-created content on consoles, not that I'm seeing so far, which is an option in Fallout 4.

But is this really true, all of CC content just "sucks"? Or has anyone come across something worthy?

[Kane]

Not that I'm in a hurry to modify my game but.... I'm reading thru this thread when coming across the ghast's words below.

Mods created outside CC were not eligible for inclusion, as Beth did not have creative control. And that is why the CC mods all suck.

Is this true? Being on Xbox atm, I only have access to Creation Club stuff, there is no option to just go into a menu and add user-created content on consoles, not that I'm seeing so far, which is an option in Fallout 4.

But is this really true, all of CC content just "sucks"? Or has anyone come across something worthy?

There is decent stuff from what I've seen, but I refuse to pay for mods. Everything I have on PC is from Nexus and I've never opened the CC menu.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Nah. I honestly wish modders had less Star Wars focus. Not enough original mods out there.

Nah. I honestly wish modders had less Star Wars focus. Not enough original mods out there.

Admittedly, I don't care for Star Wars anyway, but I agree. Don't get me wrong: They can play the game however they want and mod it the way the want. I don't have a problem with it (and even if I did, I obviously can't do anything about it anyway).

I'm just not sure why people want to make Starfield reflect other franchises so much like Star Wars or The Expanse. I'm glad Starfield wanted to do something different.

But give it enough time and I'm sure plenty of original mods will come out as Bethesda builds up the franchise.

Well we aren’t getting any good Star Wars games so maybe they feel these Starfield mods are good alternatives.

I was just curious if anyone here had tried them.

I’m curious to see what Beth does for the new update they are going to release sometime next year. I’ve heard it’s supposed to make space travel better in some way. Fewer load screens.

Not that I'm in a hurry to modify my game but.... I'm reading thru this thread when coming across the ghast's words below.

Mods created outside CC were not eligible for inclusion, as Beth did not have creative control. And that is why the CC mods all suck.

Is this true? Being on Xbox atm, I only have access to Creation Club stuff, there is no option to just go into a menu and add user-created content on consoles, not that I'm seeing so far, which is an option in Fallout 4.

But is this really true, all of CC content just "sucks"? Or has anyone come across something worthy?

There are free mods in the creations menu. You don’t have to pay for everything there. Just pay attention to what you are clicking on and you’ll be fine.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Dec 22 2025, 07:30 PM

[SubRosa]

I think what is happening with the Star Wars mods is that people want an open world, single player, Star Wars Action/RPG. Which we don't have, unless you want to go back and play some 25 year old games like Knights of the Old Republic or Jedi Academy. So it is not so much that they are trying to make Starfield more like Star Wars. They are trying to use Starfield to get the Star Wars game that Disney won't provide.

It was the same way with Rome Total War 1. There are several Lord of the Rings mods for it, allowing you to play the War of the Ring, or the wars of the 2nd Age, or in a fictional 4th Age. People want these LOTR strategy games, but there are none, so modders created them using RTW, whose engine was close enough to get the job done. Heck, I created Amazon Total War, a conversion mod that adds several Amazon factions to the game to get some female representation in the game. I have a lot more fun playing that than the original, unmodded game.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I think what is happening with the Star Wars mods is that people want an open world, single player, Star Wars Action/RPG. Which we don't have, unless you want to go back and play some 25 year old games like Knights of the Old Republic or Jedi Academy. So it is not so much that they are trying to make Starfield more like Star Wars. They are trying to use Starfield to get the Star Wars game that Disney won't provide.

It was the same way with Rome Total War 1. There are several Lord of the Rings mods for it, allowing you to play the War of the Ring, or the wars of the 2nd Age, or in a fictional 4th Age. People want these LOTR strategy games, but there are none, so modders created them using RTW, whose engine was close enough to get the job done. Heck, I created Amazon Total War, a conversion mod that adds several Amazon factions to the game to get some female representation in the game. I have a lot more fun playing that than the original, unmodded game.

I think that is a very good take. Makes perfect sense to me.

[Kane]

Something that annoyed me about that recently is I actually *did* want a cool looking slug thrower replacement (Mando's weapon from the show), but it required CC content. And because it was "approved" BGS content, it's allowed on Nexus even though you'd have to buy the creation first.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I feel the Creations menu is more for those of us playing on consoles. Obviously, if you can go to Nexus and get most of whatever you want for free then you should absolutely do that. In consoles we don’t have that luxury so we have to use the Creations menu. There is a lot that you can get for free in the Creations menu, but most of the more interesting stuff like full quests and such are going to have a cost. I appreciate the fact that BGS has made an effort to bring mods to consoles, even if the execution leaves a bit to be desired. I think Larian may be the only other company that has shown an interest in bringing mods for their games to consoles.

[Renee]

I feel the Creations menu is more for those of us playing on consoles.

Exactly this. I don't even see an option to add random mods into Starfield from Nexus or Bethesda.net, yet these options are available for Fallout 4.

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

I will say it is nice how easy it is to simply take a mod from the Creations menu that you want without having to go through the rigmarole of using a mod compiler, going on Nexus, troubleshooting the order a bunch, etc. I haven't seen what's available on Nexus that's not on Creations yet, though.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I will say it is nice how easy it is to simply take a mod from the Creations menu that you want without having to go through the rigmarole of using a mod compiler, going on Nexus, troubleshooting the order a bunch, etc. I haven't seen what's available on Nexus that's not on Creations yet, though.

I have had some issues with load orders but there is a guide on Reddit that gives you a general idea of where a given mod should go in the load order based on what kind of mod it is.

And here it is:
Xbox Load Order Template

Keep in mind the OP uses this as a general guide for Starfield but it originated with Skyrim.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Dec 25 2025, 06:26 AM

[Renee]

Ha ha, I'd rather go thru all that trouble with mod managers and Nexus and outside programs. More overall control. That's the world I know, you see? I'm well familiar with that world

On console I can't even figure out where to turn mods on and off, or even to confirm which ones are on and off, it's actually more confusing. I am talking mostly about Fallout 4, I have yet to even think about messing up Starfield.

Which is mostly

This post has been edited by Renee: Dec 25 2025, 07:35 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Ha ha, I'd rather go thru all that trouble with mod managers and Nexus and outside programs. More overall control. That's the world I know, you see? I'm well familiar with that world

On console I can't even figure out where to turn mods on and off, or even to confirm which ones are on and off, it's actually more confusing. I am talking mostly about Fallout 4, I have yet to even think about messing up Starfield.

Which is mostly

On consoles, mods are handled in the Creations section, and this should now be true for all BGS games. In the Creations section, you can check your load order (should be the “Y” button on Xbox), enable/disable all the mods you have downloaded (should be the “start button” aka the button with three lines on it), and of course browse and download mods. Once you find a mod you want, you simply click it with “A” and then hit download. It will then download the mod. You should then see it on your list of mods or load order.

Of course if you want to download a mod that costs, there is the whole ordeal of buying points and then using them to purchase the mod.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Dec 25 2025, 07:53 PM

[Renee]

Alright cool that helps, thanks.


Holy [censored] we can climb in this game? I just saw a short climbing animation.

Wow I LOVE photomode. Even on Xbox I can fly the camera around

This post has been edited by Renee: Dec 28 2025, 12:40 AM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Alright cool that helps, thanks.


Holy [censored] we can climb in this game? I just saw a short climbing animation.

Wow I LOVE photomode. Even on Xbox I can fly the camera around

Yeah! You can pull yourself up onto ledges and the ladders have a climbing animation. Seems like such a little thing but it’s been sorely missed in previous BGS games. Hopefully these will feature in TES6.

The Photomode is definitely a cool feature.

[Kane]

One of the ranks in the Gymnastics perks gives you a short speed boost after climbing over stuff, too. Helpful for moving quickly in combat!

[Renee]

'lomji

This post has been edited by Renee: Dec 29 2025, 09:51 PM