5 reasons Starfield modding scene might be even bigger than Skyrim

Starfield, as per the Bethesda announcement this month, will not be released in 2021. As much as this delay dampens the hype train, it might also enervate further speculation about the game.

There are precious little pipe dreams about what the ideal game state can achieve in many games. Fans, after all, do not make the games by themselves. However, for Bethesda games, this is a gap often bridged via modding.

Bethesda games like Skyrim, Oblivion, Fallout 4, and Fallout New Vegas take up the foremost spots for modding traffic on Nexusmods. In all likeliness, the growth of the Starfield modding scene will surpass even that of Skyrim.

Note: This article is based on the subjective views of its writer, and the list is not in any particular order.

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Five factors that may lead to Starfield modding scene taking over Skyrim

1) Creation Engine 2

One of Starfield's biggest draws over other Bethesda games is how far their engine has come. Granted, we are yet to see anything that directly addresses gameplay in Starfield.

However, the visuals of the trailers are all in-engine footage. It can be gauged from the fact that this upgraded engine will hold its own against other next-gen milestones like UE5.

More importantly, though, Creation Engine 2 will also use a similar framework as Creation Engine from Skyrim and Fallout 4 while solving some engine-level issues.

This might even enable mod authors to find more leeway with script mods without requiring a third-party extension like SKSE.

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2) Proactive Creation Kit support

In the early era of Skyrim modding days, only minuscule retexture mods would be the frequent takeaway of the daily Nexusmods traffic for the game.

The importance of mod authors who brought their experience of Oblivion and Morrowind modding cannot be understated by any stretch as a factor for its blow-up. But when it took off, the catalyst was the release of official modding tools like Creation Kit.

Starfield, for which Nexusmods has already rolled out a proactive official discord server for modding, will have a head-start.

As Todd Howard mentioned in a Reddit AMA:

“Our plan is to have full mod support like our previous games. Our modding community has been with us for 20 years. We love what they do and hope to see more make a career out of it.”

In other words, Creation Kit support should have a public release shortly after the game's release, if not on day one. Moreover, Creation Kit 2 will have fundamental similarities with Creation Kit itself, making mod-creation workflows that much easier.

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3) Futuristic setting

One of the most widely used tagged mod distinctions on Nexusmods search is lore-appropriateness. There is nothing stopping mod authors from making a light sabre mod for Skyrim.

The magic of modding, after all, depends on the boundless freedom of expression it offers. However, Skyrim is limited by its adherence to established high-fantasy lore.

An argument can be made for futuristic things like mecha suits being a part of the c0da or the remnants of the obscure dwemer race, but it is officially not canon. On the other hand, Starfield is set on a nexus of settled and uncharted planets.

It will come with its huge variety of civilizations with their cultural, ideological, architectural, and tonal differences. With this much diversity and the futuristic NASA-punk label in play, the sky is the limit for lore-appropriate mods.

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4) Scale

Skyrim was a huge game when it was released (2011). However, open worlds in video games have since grown exponentially by AAA standards. Fallout games did not scale with this very well.

Fallout 4 is only marginally larger than Fallout NV in terms of overworld size. This was more due to engine limitations, which showed its age most with the buggy launch of Fallout 76.

Thus parsing DLC-sized mod files that add new lands puts some strain on the game stability, even with the 64-bit iteration of Skyrim.

Starfield, however, will be built to accommodate entire star systems' worth of landmasses into it from what we know. Thus this category of mods, one of the hot favorites in the Fallout modding community, will also find some breathing room.

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5) Novelty

Starfield is Bethesda's first new IP in 25 years. The only other purely Bethesda-made franchise is The Elder Scrolls. The foundations of the world of Elder Scrolls, as deemed lore-appropriate today, were laid back in Morrowind.

Starfield will thus be a breath of fresh air for Bethesda to exercise its creative outlets again, and such an environment of novelty is also conducive to mods.

As Skyrim modding enters its tenth year, much of the obvious modding ideas that can be explored - survival system, more hardcore economy, new enemies, or combat systems - have already been touched upon.

For Starfield, this will be a fresh start for modders as well as for Bethesda themselves. With the greater accessibility of resources and the new engine, modders should be able to find their creative horizons even easier than they did in Skyrim.