Starfield finally says goodbye to “pet rock” asteroid bug in new update

Starfield update 1.8.88 has finally addressed the “pet rock” asteroid bug that’s been around since launch.

Not long after Starfield arrived on PC and Xbox, players noticed a strange bug involving asteroids. In some instances, a small asteroid would attach itself to a player’s orbit and follow their ship through space.

Users began referring to this unexpected phenomenon as their “pet rock.” A few players reported the asteroid following their ship’s every move for upwards of 30 hours. Others claimed they’d unintentionally befriended two or three pet rocks.

And nothing could make the asteroids disappear. Switching ships, loading screens, and even restarting the game – none of these actions did the trick. Fortunately, Bethesda has issued a proper fix in Starfield’s latest update.

Starfield’s new patch finally gets rid of the “pet rock” glitch

On December 11, Bethesda unleashed Starfield’s 1.8.88 update, a small patch that tackles crashing errors, as well as issues related to Outpost weapon cases.

Starfield players will be most interested to learn that the update finally fixes the glitch wherein pieces of space matter randomly follows them around.

Bethesda, Reverendroo/Reddit

The full patch notes for 1.8.88 read as follows:

Fixes and Improvements

Gameplay:

• Addressed an issue that would cause space matter to become stuck to player’s ship during space travel. Loading a save will now remove the space clingon. Please note: This fix should address any space matter being stuck in your travels, but not in instances where player ships have New Atlantis attached. A fix for that will be released in a later update.

Outpost:

• Fixed an issue that prevents random guns from spawning in a newly created Weapon Case after loading a save.

Save/Load:

• [Microsoft Store/Xbox] Fixed an issue where players could experience crashes while saving during long playthrough without going through the Unity.

The pet rock fix comes several weeks after Starfield’s first major update, 1.8.86, which added DLSS support and long-awaited food changes. How else the development team plans on improving the experience in the future remains to be seen.