Starfield received an update today. Along with the update, Bethesda has released a news article regarding Starfield update 1.7.29 and future plans that include accessibility improvements.
Today’s update includes stability and performance fixes, and fixes for some progress blocking bugs. While progress blocking bugs remain a priority, future updates will include requested features. Two of the listed features coming to Starfield soon directly impact accessibility: brightness and contrast settings, and an FOV slider. The article even mentions city maps as something they might add in the future, which would be a very welcome addition indeed to help navigating those areas.
Mod support
Built-in support for mods in Starfield on all platforms is being worked on as well. This will be similar to mods in Skyrim and Fallout 4. The release for this Creations feature is planned for early next year.
In the meantime, modders have already been busy. While many mods are simply fun or intended to improve performance, some have set their sights on accessibility. Browsing around the popular modding site Nexusmods quickly finds us a few. One of the early mods helps players to adjust the narrow FOV in Starfield. Another allows players to further customize Starfield’s subtitles. There are also mods to improve the visibility of in-game element, such as high contrast quest arrows, and a dark mode for terminals. There’s even a mod to remove high pitched sounds from sound effects, which are potential tinnitus triggers.
The mods may require manual installation and have players adjust certain text files to customize them. For players not comfortable doing this, the built-in mod support will of course be a welcome addition.
While it is very late, as accessibility should have been part of development well before Bethesda even became part of Microsoft, it is good to see they are taking feedback to heart. Because they are using player feedback as a guideline for future updates, it’s important for players to keep reporting any accessibility issues they encounter in Starfield. This helps teams to prioritize the fixes and features needed the most.
