A hot potato: What better way for Bethesda to redeem itself in the eyes of gamers for Starfield than to charge $7 for a single mission. Not surprisingly, it’s led to the game’s recent user reviews on Steam changing to Mostly Negative. Now, company director/executive producer Todd Howard has weighed in on the matter.
Part of Starfield’s new Creations programs, the second Trackers Alliance mission, called The Vulture, is a paid add-on that costs 700 Starfield Creation Credits, equivalent to $7 – though you’re really going to be spending $10 as that’s the least you can buy to cover the cost.
There’s been a massive outcry against Bethesda introducing paid mods into Starfield, and the $7 mission has drawn comparisons to the infamous Oblivion Horse Armor DLC from 2006.
Starfield’s Steam rating has tumbled as a result of the Starfield Creation Kit. The game’s Steam Recent Reviews rating is down to Mostly Negative with just 28% of people giving it the thumbs up. Its All Reviews rating, meanwhile, is Mixed with 59% of reviewers voting positively.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard spoke about the controversy in an interview with YouTube channel MrMattyPlays. “We hear that feedback, too,” he said.
The exec added that The Trackers Alliance was an attempt to give players a special outfit and weapon, put them together, then go “the extra mile” by placing them in a quest.
“But now we definitely see the feedback, right? And that’s not what we want at all in terms of, oh no, this looks like a faction that we’re chopping up and then selling for 700 credits at a time,” Howard said. “And so I do think we are going to take a look at that and how we deliver content like that, and whether we’re changing pricing or breaking it up or what we should do there. So, great feedback from the community.”
As for the paid mods themselves, Howard says these are important for the modding community. He explained that it was Bethesda’s job to ensure those who have gone from hobbyists to professionals see the monetary rewards they deserve for making top-tier content. Howard also noted that the Creation Kit will enable a large number of free mods for Starfield alongside those that are paid for.
PC Gamer writes that despite the furor, The Vulture appears to be doing quite well. It’s one of the ten most popular Creations of the 600+ released so far (and the only one in the top ten that costs credits), has 1,288 thumbs-up votes, and more than 1.2 million “plays” across PC and Xbox.