Starfield’s Shattered Space Hopefully Sets One Precedent for Future DLC

Key Takeaways

• Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC includes 50 unique locations on the planet Va’ruun’kai, promising a rich exploration experience.
• Early reports suggest Shattered Space DLC offers 7–10 hours of gameplay, but those reports could be missing the mark based on what has been revealed so far.
• Future Starfield DLC could learn from Shattered Space’s scale and content depth to provide more extensive and intriguing gameplay experiences.

Starfield may have had a rough start in 2023, but it has been gradually making up for it with quality-of-life improvements and large-scale additions. Its most anticipated addition, Shattered Space, is an upcoming DLC that centers around House Va’ruun and a strange anomaly that has disrupted space-time. While Shattered Space’s plot is intriguing enough in itself due to it involving one of Starfield‘s best and most mysterious factions, it sounds like it will be pretty impressive scale-wise as well. Specifically, Starfield‘s Shattered Space DLC will include 50 unique locations on the planet Va’ruun’kai.

Not much is known yet about Starfield‘s DLC to come, but the hope is that Shattered Space will set a precedent that can still be improved upon – particularly when it comes to scale. While any sort of new addition might be enough to please players, if Starfield is looking to replicate the longevity of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, it will need some sizable content to keep players busy for quite some time. Of course, that all depends on whether Shattered Space truly has what it claims to offer, and whether its content is as hefty as it sounds.

Hopefully, Future Starfield DLC Will Be More Like Shattered Space

Shattered Space Sounds Like It Will Include Plenty of New Content for Players to Enjoy

Despite being labeled Starfield‘s “first major expansion” by Bethesda, the whole of Shattered Space’s story only takes place on one planet, and that includes all the new side quests coming with it. That being said, there are 50 distinct locations on the planet for players to visit and explore, though it’s unclear how extensive these locations will be. Assuming these locations are more extensive than simple outposts and the DLC’s story and side quests are more than mere fetch and kill quests, Shattered Space could keep players busy for some time.

Early reports suggest Starfield‘s Shattered Space DLC could take players anywhere from 7 to 10 hours to play. Unfortunately, that pales in comparison to Starfield‘s nearly 150 hours of content and implies Shattered Space is far from a “major expansion.” It’s unclear what these reports are based on, however, and 7 to 10 hours for such a hyped-up expansion seems a bit of a shallow estimate. At the very least, players will get the hand-crafted version of Starfield they’ve been craving since the game’s launch in 2023, as every inch of Va’ruun’kai has been intentionally designed by Bethesda to avoid any procedural generation criticism and offer players a one-of-a-kind experience.

Future Starfield DLC May Take a Cue From Shattered Space’s Scale

Assuming Starfield‘s Shattered Space is as big as it claims to be, future DLC could benefit from using its scale as a starting point. Past Bethesda DLCs, such as The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion‘s Shivering Isles, could provide a glimpse of Shattered Space’s scale. However, not many other DLCs from Bethesda have come close to rivaling Shivering Isles, so if Shattered Space is any larger, it could set a new precedent for the developer and its latest IP.

Perhaps future Starfield DLC will see more than one new planet added to the game, along with several new factions to boot. This would not only give players plenty of new ground to cover, but it would also provide some fresh lore they have yet to become acquainted with. What makes Shattered Space’s House Va’ruun so intriguing is that they are Starfield‘s most mysterious faction, and the bits and pieces of lore that have been revealed about them have seemingly only scratched the surface. In light of that, perhaps Starfield could even tease new factions in Shattered Space to pave the way for the future, opening up the possibility of forthcoming DLC being even more sizable. However, the full extent of Starfield‘s Shattered Space DLC remains to be seen, as well as any DLC to come after that.