The May Update for Starfield — first revealed earlier this month with a Steam Beta release for preliminary testing — has now been fully released for Bethesda’s 2023 space exploration RPG, and is available to download now across the game’s Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (Steam, Xbox app) platforms. And while it’s a small patch overall, it has added one huge piece of content that’s making me reinstall the title.
That addition is Watchtower, a massive DLC-sized mod release from Kinggath Creations — a group of modders (led by community member kinggath himself) that’s known for making some of the best Fallout 4 mods like Sim Settlements, and also came out with the ambitious East Empire Expansion project for Skyrim as well. The mod is one of Bethesda’s developer-curated “Creations” mods, and costs 1,000 Starfield Creation credits ($10 worth). You’ll find it in the in-game Creations Store menu.
Paid mods have been a contentious topic ever since Bethesda first brought them to Skyrim and Fallout 4 nearly a decade ago, but at a glance, Watchtower looks like it’s absolutely worth its price of admission. If you’re a Starfield player looking for another adventure to have in the Settled Systems, it’s definitely worth a look.
Watchtower is centered around a militant faction of the same name that aggressively attacks anything and anyone they deem a threat to humanity — and for an unknown reason, you’re now in their crosshairs. Fittingly for their namesake, Watchtower forces maintain a large fleet of starships that they use to overwhelm opposition encountered in planetary orbit while simultaneously raining down orbital strikes to support their troops on the ground.
In its fully voice-acted story, you’ll meet a fellow adventurer also being hunted by Watchtower, and together with them and their allies, you’ll begin to develop a resistance to the growing threat. As the questline progresses, you’ll build up a space station and a fleet of your own to take the fight to the extremists, going through the process of crewing and commanding it as you target Watchtower outposts across the stars. While planetside, you’ll even be able to call in orbital support Helldivers 2-style as the enemy does.
The Kinggath Creations team notes in Watchtower’s overview page on its website that it’s “designed to work seamlessly with the base game, DLCs, and many other community mods,” so there’s no need to worry about compatibility with most other Creations and the Shattered Space DLC. It’s also available on both Xbox and PC, so all Starfield players can jump in.
Frankly, I’m not even the biggest fan of Starfield’s base experience myself, but even I’ve been convinced to reinstall and spend some unused Creation Credits on Watchtower because of how awesome it sounds. With that said, it’s not the only highlight of the new update worth mentioning.
Most of the patch notes just mention bugfixes and minor gameplay tweaks, but there are some welcome new features, too. The biggest is a change that allows modders to upload Creations up to 2GB in size; this isn’t as big of a deal on PC where you could manually install large graphical overhaul projects yourself, but it’s huge for Xbox players who haven’t been able to use mods like this until now.
On top of that, Very Low display settings have been added on PC “to improve performance on some devices,” which will be extremely useful for people playing on gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck. For the full patch notes, check the section below.
Starfield itself is usually $69.99, but right now, you can get the Xbox version for just $29.99 at Best Buy and the Steam one for $44.19 at CDKeys thanks to excellent deals. The PC version of the $99.99 Premium Edition that includes Shattered Space, some extra cosmetics, and 1,000 Creation Credits (enough for Watchtower) is also down to $65.69 at CDKeys. Of course, with Starfield being a first-party Xbox exclusive, you also have the option of playing through Xbox Game Pass.
Starfield May Update 1.15.216: Patch notes
Here are the official patch notes for Starfield’s May Update, taken directly from Bethesda’s website.
FEATURES
- Added Very Low display settings to improve performance on some devices.
- Creation Kit: Added the ability for Creators to add new icons to the game.
- Creations Store now supports bundling Creations.
- Creation Kit: Creations up to 2GB in size can now be uploaded.
BUG FIXES
GENERAL
- Creations: Resolved a possible error when restoring load order if a large number of mods were installed and then deleted.
- Creation Kit: Resolved a possible crash when loading a plugin with an ingredient form.
- Addressed a possible control lock that could occur when changing views at the same time as sitting in a pilot seat while landed.
- Addressed a rare movement lock that was possible during forced dialogue scenes.
- Addressed a control lock that could occur if a vehicle Creation was disabled while a loaded save depended on it.
- Addressed a rare control lock that could occur when immediately opening a menu after loading a save during take-off.
- Fixed an issue that could prevent exiting a vanity camera (PC).
- Fixed a possible crash related to moving or removing buildings at the Main Outpost in Andraphon.
- Resolved a rare crash that could occur when entering the Unity.
- Addressed an issue where rapidly pressing quicksave could result in some quicksaves being removed.
- General crash and stability fixes.
- Creations UI fixes and improvements.
GAMEPLAY
- Skills: The Cargo Link and Robots build limits from the Outpost Management skills should now persist after going through the Unity.
- Weapons: The Space-Adept legendary effect no longer has a negative modifier for terrestrial damage.
- Gameplay Options: Addressed an issue with some interiors that prevented cargo access.
- Gameplay Options: Clarified the status effects text for Malnourished and Hydrated.
- Fixed a Grav jumping issue that could occur after being hailed in Freestar or UC space.
- Fixed a rare issue that could impact items displayed in the Razorleaf.
- Resolved an issue with missiles that could prevent XP awards.
- Fixed a player placement issue that could occur if a new creation was installed and a save was loaded into the UC Vigilance.
- Resolved an issue where creatures could get moved to water if they ever became stuck.
- Addressed an issue where dropped items could lose there stolen status.
- At Hell’s Gate: The Crucible Blade no longer damages ships in orbit when used inside a ship.
- At Hell’s Gate: The Crucible Blade audio will now play correctly after loading a save or fast travelling.
- The Bounty Board in the Tracker’s Alliance HQ now has the correct audio interactions.
GRAPHICS
- Updated resolutions to include 32:9 and 32:10 resolutions as well as more 16:9, 16:10, and 21:9 resolutions.
- Performance: Resolved an issue that could cause frame rate to drop when opening the scanner on long play sessions.
- Celestial bodies should now remain visible in the sky after entering and exiting an interior.
QUESTS
- All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue that caused the Trade Tower elevator to be inoperable.
- In Memoriam: Addressed an issue where completing “At Hell’s Gate” with Sarah as the companion could prevent completion of the quest.
- Perfect Recipe: Shonda will now recover if she was downed while collecting Ashta meat.
- The Starjacker: Adjusted dialogue options that appear for characters playing after entering the Unity.
- Top of the L.I.S.T. – Resolved a control lock that could occur after selling survey data to Phil Hill.
- Trackers Alliance: Resolved an issue where bounty scanner quests could time out.
- Trackers Alliance: Fixed a rare issue where either killing or stunning the target would not complete the bounty missions.
- Worlds Apart: Fixed an issue that allowed the player to leave the planet too quickly after exiting the temple.
LOCATIONS
- Mannequins will now persist as intended in the New Atlantis Penthouse.
- Player should now be able to modify the shelves and cabinets in the Core Manor in Akila City.
- Resolved an issue that could prevent scanning some flora.
- At Hell’s Gate: The Plasma Research Facility now shows up on the surface map.
- Fixed a visible opening in the Deserted Biotics Lab.
- Vent Hazards are now displaying correctly on Jemison.
UI
- Ship Builder: Resolved an issue with the ship upgrade menu when only one module is available for upgrade.
- Ship Builder: Addressed a selection issue when using large fonts.
- Ship Decoration: Updated the names of Empty ship modules.
- All buttons should now work in the Vehicle Builder menu with large fonts enabled.
- Localization: Text for the Dehydrated debuff is no longer cutoff in Spanish and Polish when large fonts is enabled.
- Localization: The bounty boards in the Tracker’s Alliance HQ are now localized consistently.
- Localization: Strings for both Hydrated and Dehydrated status effects regarding sneak attacks are fully localized.
VEHCILE
- A keyboard binding is now available for the boost button. (PC)
- A marker for the vehicle will now show up on the player’s compass.
- Resolved a camera issue that could occur for players with maxed out Surveying skill.
- Improved logic for exiting the vehicle when partially obstructed.
- The vehicle will now deploy when landing at locations other than spaceports or landing pads.
- Addressed a visible artifact with the Rev-8 when boosting in foggy conditions.
SHATTERED SPACE
- Va’ruun outpost modules are now available to players after entering the Unity.
- Skills: Killing enemies inside gravity bubbles on Dazra will now count towards the Gymnastics skill.
- Addressed an issue with the buttons on the lift on the Mourning level in Dazra.
- Weapons: The Penumbra now deals bonus headshot damage.
- Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause slight stutters in the Well and outside Dazra.
- The Va’Ruun Schimaz’s blade is no longer pixelated on the Data Menu.
- Fixed a lens flare flicker with the Citadel on Dazra.
- Zealous Overreach: Adjusted Mirek’s dialogue options to account for characters that have been through the Unity.
- Zealous Overreach: Resolved issue that could occur if the player cleared Shadow Station Epsilon prior to speaking to Ekris.
