Starfield‘s Next Big Update Adds More Reason To Travel Through Space

After months of rumors, creators getting early previews, and teasing, Bethesda has finally revealed what it’s been working on for its open-world space RPG Starfield.

Starfield’s next paid expansion is Terran Armada, and it is launching on April 7. On that same day, Bethesda will release a large free update for the game titled Free Lanes.

What’s in Starfield’s Free Lanes update

Bethesda calls Free Lanes the biggest update since launch. It adds new weapons, quests, fresh points of interest, and a new vehicle.

“Interplanetary exploration is what Free Lanes is all about,” says Bethesda.

The idea is to add more reasons for players to travel through space instead of just fast-traveling. Bethesda is even adding a cruise control-like mode that will let players step away from the helm while their ship flies to a specific location. During these crises, you can be interrupted by random events.

The new update isn’t just focused on making space exploration better; Bethesda is also adding a shared outpost container that will let players share all of their loot and items easily between different planets. Players will also be able to unlock a friendly pet alien, too.

Bethesda is also adding a new game+ like experience to Starfield, letting players take some items through the universal unity feature. Previously, you would have to sacrifice all your gear and loot to visit a new version of Starfield’s universe.

What’s in Starfield’s next expansion, Terran Armada

“The DLC is going to challenge players to rise up to a full-on armada,” said Bethesda. “Part of your mission is to figure out what their motivation is and stop them from attacking innocent worlds.”

The Terran Armada uses new ships and weapons, including more “contemporary” assault rifles and laser weapons based on community feedback. The Armada also uses “deadly” robot troops to attack worlds and space ships.

According to Bethesda, Terrans can even block warping out of systems. So you’ll need to cruise to whatever Armada base is blocking travel and take it out.

Last month,  Bethesda creative director Todd Howard made it clear that this just-revealed big update for Starfield wouldn’t be a “2.0” upgrade for the game. Instead, he promised this next major patch would be designed for people who already like the game, explaining it like this during a Kinda Funny podcast appearance: “I think it’s the kind of thing where if you love Starfield, we think you’re going to love this.”

And based on what was shown, that seems to have been an accurate bit of expectation setting on Howard’s part.