Starfield PS5 release date confirmed along with new story DLC and free update

Bethesda has finally shown off its new Starfield updates, with one of them already available and new story DLC due in just a few weeks.

Back in 2023, the decision to position Starfield as a major Xbox exclusive was seen as controversial, with PlayStation 5 owners outraged that they wouldn’t be able to play Bethesda’s sci-fi epic.

Microsoft also admitted that one of the reasons it bought Bethesda was to prevent Starfield from becoming a PlayStation 5 exclusive. Although in the end, the game wound up having little impact on Xbox console sales.

So, it’s all very ironic that, after months of rumours, Starfield is officially coming to PlayStation 5. Although what is surprising is that it’s coinciding with two major updates; one of which is the next story DLC.

As was leaked earlier this month, Starfield’s PlayStation 5 version will arrive on April 7, with Bethesda confirming it via a developer showcase and blog post earlier today.

There had been online chatter about Starfield seeing a major overhaul to coincide with this, but that isn’t entirely the case. The game is receiving a smattering of new content, though, starting with something called the Trackers Alliance bounty series.

This is a completely free update that’s being made available today and simply adds five bounty targets for you to hunt down, although the process of accessing this update is apparently so convoluted that Bethesda needs a whole blog post to explain it.

What’s significantly more interesting are the two updates planned to launch alongside the PlayStation 5 port (they’ll obviously be available on Xbox and PC too). The first, labelled Free Lanes, is billed as the ‘most expansive free update yet’ and adds a generous amount of new content as well as quality-of-life touches.

Some examples include a cruise mode that lets you freely fly your spaceship from one planet to another and the option to start a New Game+ playthrough without losing any items.

As for the paid story DLC (the second of its kind following 2024’s Shattered Space expansion), it’s called Terran Armada and has you confronting the titular organisation as they threaten war.

This also comes with additional content beyond the new story, such as an Incursion system for earning more loot, new ship parts, and a new robot companion.

You can find a full breakdown of what’s included on Bethesda’s website, but hopefully, given how long it’s been since the last expansion, these updates should address some of the flaws of the parent game – which Shattered Space did not do.

If you’re at all considering picking up Starfield on PlayStation 5, the standard edition costs £44.99 while the premium edition, which includes both story DLC expansions and other additional content, costs £60.99.

The new Terran Armada expansion will be available as a separate purchase as well but, at the time of writing, Bethesda hasn’t provided UK pricing. It’ll be $9.99, though, which should put it around £7.50, which is much cheaper than Shattered Space’s £17.99 price tag.

There was no mention of the upcoming DLSS 5 support, that was announced by Nvidia recently, which makes sense since that’s not due to come out until this autumn.

Despite a seal of approval from Bethesda, though, fans are not as accepting and have slammed the tech for making games, like Starfield, look like AI generated slop.

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