Hey everyone, let's talk about Starfield. Remember when it was supposed to be the game of 2023? Fast forward to 2026, and honestly, it feels like a distant memory in Bethesda's catalog, especially after the massive hype and success of the Oblivion Remastered shadow-drop. It's wild to think a game with so much initial buzz has become such a footnote. As a long-time Bethesda fan, it's kinda sad to see. The studio is known for building worlds that players and modders live in for decades—look at Skyrim, still going strong with insane mods, or the legendary wacky moments from Oblivion that kept it alive pre-remaster. Even Fallout 4 and New Vegas have massive, ambitious mod projects cooking. But Starfield? It just... didn't stick. Despite solid sales and that huge Day One Game Pass player base, it failed to make a lasting cultural impact. The 2024 Shattered Space expansion and subsequent updates were fine, but they didn't create the phenomenon Bethesda was hoping for. Part of this was just brutal timing—Baldur's Gate 3 absolutely dominated the conversation that year and has continued to with incredible post-launch support and a thriving mod scene. We all hoped the modding community would swoop in and make Starfield truly special, but that salvation story never materialized.

The Canary in the Coal Mine: The Abandoned Community Patch

Let's get into the real tea. The most telling sign of Starfield's struggles in 2026 isn't player counts or reviews—it's what's happening (or not happening) with the modders. According to reports, the team behind The Starfield Community Patch, one of the game's biggest and most essential mod projects, has basically ghosted the project. The lead mod author, Pickysaurus, stated on the Starfield Modding Discord that the team has stopped working on it since late 2025 and is looking for someone else to take over. If no one steps up, the project will be abandoned. This is HUGE and, frankly, alarming. Why? Because Bethesda games live and die by their community patches. These projects fix thousands of bugs the devs miss and are a labor of love that sustains games for years.

When asked for reasons, Pickysaurus didn't hold back. The team members have become 'disenchanted with the game for various reasons.' They cited:

• Lack of replay-ability 🎮

• The ongoing paid modding controversy 💸

• Simply moving on to newer, more engaging games 🚀

This is a massive red flag. Modders for Bethesda titles are famously dedicated. Look at the team behind Fallout: London—they worked for years on that passion project. Or modders like Vicn for Skyrim, who's been pumping out incredible content for a game older than some of its players. Yet, Starfield couldn't even keep a crucial patch team interested for a couple of years. It feels like the magic just isn't there.

Why Didn't the Magic Stick? Starfield's Core Problems

So, what went wrong? From my perspective and from chatting with others in the community, a few key things doomed Starfield's long-term appeal.

1. The World Just Wasn't That Interesting

Compared to the rich, deep lore of Tamriel or the post-apocalyptic Americana of the Fallout universe, Starfield's settled systems felt... sterile. Bethesda's other IPs have decades of history, factions, and iconic locations that fuel imagination. Starfield's planets often felt like beautiful but empty backdrops. It lacked that unique 'soul'—the weird, memorable charm that makes you want to explore every nook and cranny and then build upon it.

2. The Paid Modding Fiasco

Bethesda didn't do itself any favors with the Creation Club system. While it's great for getting console players involved, it's created a ton of controversy, especially around modders getting paid. Many in the community see it as Bethesda monetizing mods without adequately supporting the creators. This friction created a bad atmosphere. If the game itself was utterly captivating, modders might have looked past it, but it was just another reason to feel disenchanted.

3. Bethesda's Own Lackluster Support

This one stings. Look at how CD Projekt Red fought to turn Cyberpunk 2077 around with the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty—a massive, years-long redemption arc. Bethesda's support for Starfield, by comparison, has felt minimal. We got one expansion and some updates, but it doesn't feel like the all-in effort needed to revive a game. Compare it to past support: Skyrim got three major DLCs, Fallout 4 got six, and Fallout 76 has had over twenty major updates! It really feels like Bethesda has already mentally moved on to The Elder Scrolls 6 and that Fallout 3 remaster.

The New Modding Landscape: Competition is Everywhere

Here's the real kicker in 2026: Bethesda no longer has a monopoly on amazing modding communities. This is a first! For years, if you wanted a deeply moddable single-player RPG, you went to Bethesda. Now? The competition is fierce and thriving.

Game	Modding Scene Status (2026)	Example Project
Baldur's Gate 3	🔥 Explosive & Highly Supported	Curse of Strahd campaign (Fallout: London scale!)
The Witcher 3	🛠️ Strong & Toolkit Supported	Next-gen quest and gameplay overhauls
Hogwarts Legacy	📈 Growing Rapidly	New adventures and companion systems
Skyrim	👑 The Undisputed King	Nolvus, massive 2000+ mod lists
Starfield	❄️ Stagnant / Declining	Community Patch abandoned

Games like Baldur's Gate 3 have provided mod authors with fantastic official toolkits and a rapt audience. They're giving creators a brilliant platform. If Starfield had released five years earlier, it might have captured all that modding energy. But now, modders' attention is divided among many fantastic, supportive games. Why struggle with Starfield's Creation Club and perceived lack of soul when you can create for BG3's vibrant world?

The Final Verdict: A Lost Opportunity

Ultimately, Starfield's biggest failure was its inability to endear itself to the very community that has sustained Bethesda's games for generations. The modding community was supposed to be its safety net, fixing its flaws and building upon its foundation to create the epic space RPG we dreamed of. That didn't happen. The world wasn't intriguing enough, the systems weren't compelling enough, and Bethesda's own policies and support pushed people away.

The success of Oblivion Remastered and the full-steam-ahead development on The Elder Scrolls 6 seem to signal that Bethesda itself is ready to move on. If the always-reliable modding community isn't there to keep the lights on, maybe it's not worth pouring more resources into. Perhaps a Starfield 2 could learn from these mistakes and finally capture that magic. But for now, in 2026, the lesson is clear: even a giant like Bethesda can't take its community for granted. The heart of a Bethesda game isn't just what the devs ship; it's what the community builds. And Starfield, sadly, never found its builders. For our space RPG fixes, it looks like we're all still looking to the stars of older, livelier galaxies. 🪐