Starfield review bombed on Steam after divisive Creation Club update

Starfield players upset over the Creation Club update have started review-bombing Bethesda’s space RPG on Steam.

On the same day as Xbox’s 2024 Games Showcase, Bethesda rolled out the long-awaited Creation Club update for its space-faring adventure.

The update allows players to create and download mods with ease. Players quickly identified one upsetting element, though; while most mods will be available free of charge, others have a price tag.

This isn’t anything new for Bethesda-developed games. Notably, Fallout 4’s Creation Club features paid creations that players purchased with credits bought from Bethesda. But the problem here is the type of content that has a fee attached.

Two new missions launched alongside the update and both center around Trackers Alliance, the bounty hunting group. One Trackers Alliance quest, The Starjacker, is available for free as an introduction to the organization. However, the follow-up mission, The Vulture, costs 700 credits – the equivalent of $7.

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Starfield fans on Reddit caution this practice may set a “dangerous precedent,” as it offers new story content for free but locks subsequent quests behind a paywall.

As a result, a contingent of players on Steam have started review-bombing Starfield. Several of the most recent user reviews cite the paid mod as the reason for their ‘Not Recommended’ ratings.

One disgruntled player who’s logged 100-plus hours in Starfield said these Creation Club “microtransactions” feel “more like MACROtransactions, as $7 for 15 minutes of in-game content is LUDICROUS…”

“Game was alright. $7 for a mission is not. Do not recommend,” another person wrote in their review.

Someone else blasted Bethesda for delaying Creation Kit tools only to release “curated mods” first.

For other Starfield users, however, the Creation Club controversy is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Many hoped modding tools would give Starfield a new lease on life after its mixed reception at launch and lacking post-release support.

Bethesda’s support for the RPG won’t stop here, though. A new story expansion, Shattered Space, will launch on an unspecified date later in 2024.