Starfield could've been truly special. Bethesda's first original IP in a quarter of a century had us all waiting with bated breath, as the promise of 'space Skyrim' was truly irresistible. But then it arrived, sweeping through the gamersphere with all the force of a toddler trying to blow out their birthday candles. To say I was disappointed is an understatement, and not even its first expansion, Shattered Space, or the slew of other improvements since launch could hook me back in.
Well, Bethesda is now ready to take another stab at it, today revealing everything that the tentatively-anticipated Terran Armada expac, alongside Starfield's upcoming Free Lanes update that will launch simultaneously, has to offer. You won't have to wait long, either, as the pair will arrive next month.
In today's Starfield livestream, Tim Lamb (lead creative producer), Istvan Pely (art director), and Emil Pagliarulo (design director) dove deep into everything that's coming up. Touted as "the biggest update since launch," the trio says Free lanes is "adding tones of new POIs, locations to discover, another vehicle, tons of new space suits, [and] weapons to find." In Free Lanes, interplanetary exploration is the name of the game. The space game is finally getting a cruise mode for its ships, which opens up the potential for more player downtime between trips across the cosmos. Here, we see the devs yapping away with crewmates and decorating their ship, before being rudely interrupted by an alarm, prompting the call to arms as you're pulled into one of Free Lanes' new encounters.
You won't have to worry about crashing your ship while cruising, either. According to the accompanying blog post, the autopilot system will slow your ship as you near your destination. It can also be switched up on the fly, so you can always divert your attention to one of the new locations coming with the update, should you wish.
Free Lanes also brings a new material, X-Tech. This can be used to enhance your ship, weapons, and gear. X-Tech also grants the means to reroll legendary effects, so you can lock in your dream armament. The first five rerolls will cost X-Tech and credits, but you'll get to pick your modifier if you don't hit. As a gacha enjoyer, I'm always a firm fan of guaranteed pity.
Speaking of legendary effects, Free Lanes is bringing a new rank for weapons, helmets, packs, and suits. Tier 4 modifiers are innately pickable, and offer the chance to make your gear 'Exotic' when max upgrades are reached. Here are some example effects given:
- Saboteur - Damaging robots has a chance to instantly kill them. Robots explode on death.
- Reckless - Mag size is reduced to one, damage is increased by 500%, and health is reduced by 50%. (Ranged only)
- Enigmatic - Produces holograms of the player during combat, confusing enemies. (Suit only)
There are also two new quality tiers above Advanced en route, so you can now ascend your gear to Superior and Exceptional. As noted, X-Tech can further be used to improve your ship, namely through the introduction of the Ship Optimization Terminal. This handy bit of kit will let you use the precious resource to upgrade ship systems like shield strength, weapons, and the grav drive. But that's far from all Free Lanes has to offer.
In the new Starfield update, you'll also get to visit a new starstation, Anchorpoint, while reveling in a fresh batch of ship modules, new side quests, and more. You can even buy yourself a tidy little asteroid base, which literally and adjectively rocks. Starfield has already added the REV-8, and now you'll have a fresh ship to skrrt around in called the Moon Jumper. This bounding buggy is all about verticality, and you'll be able to boost up to higher places than usual vehicles.
Outside of this, Bethesda's got plenty of cracking quality-of-life additions in store. Outpost containers will let you share items between bases. The database is a bonafide everything codex that helps you keep track of your journey. If you've been staving off New Game Plus because the lure of ranking up Starborn abilities isn't strong enough, don't worry about it. You can now use Quantum Essence to improve them, without having to go the extra mile. If you have been tempted, though, the Quantum Entanglement Device will let you bring your favorite items across from your previous playthrough.
Now, let me catch my breath real quick, and we'll dive into Terran Armada.
Starfield's second DLC introduces a brand new militant faction called, you guessed it, the Terran Armada - the self-styled "true" children of Earth. It's composed of United Colonies and Freestar Collective members who went AWOL during the Colony War, as well as a worryingly large legion of highly capable battle bots. Robots are freaking cool, though, so I hope I can become a sympathizer…
Though Bethesda's still keeping quiet about the minutiae of what you'll be up to, it makes clear in the primer that the "fate of the war against the Terran Armada will have consequences that ripple throughout the galaxy." It's scary stuff, but thankfully the developer-publisher is bringing in a new Terran companion, Delta, to help with the heavy lifting. Delta's been reprogrammed to not wish death and destruction upon the Settled Systems, which is nice. That being said, Pagliarulo says he's "not evil," but he's "definitely not good." Can't have it all, I suppose.
The Terran Armada expac has a new Incursion system to test your mettle against. These range from "small skirmishes to large-scale infiltrations of Terran vessels where the objectives can vary." It's easy enough to zoom into the action, but much harder to get out, as Terran tech can prevent you from grav-jumping away. As such, you'll need to manually navigate far enough away, or destroy the offending tech before you can make out like a bandit.
Finally, alongside Free Lanes, Terran Armada adds a host of new goodies for you to snap up, including new ships and parts, gear, and a fully-furnished pre-built outpost you can set and forget if you don't have the time to whip up your own crib.
Starfield Terran Armada will launch alongside the Free Lanes update on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Terran Armada will set you back a modest $9.99, while Free Lanes is, well, free. If you've been eagerly awaiting the PS5 port, it's your time, as this'll also launch on the same day.
Terran Armada was initially not-so-cryptically teased during Starfield's second anniversary celebration. Since then, the rumor mill's been rife with claims pertaining to "more free-form and continuous" space travel, with a notable cutdown on loading screens also supposedly in the works. While some have branded the next phase 'Starfield 2.0,' others are tempering expectations, and for good reason. Aside from the murmurings, Bethesda's kept its cards close to its chest, going dark in the interim. Clearly, it hasn't wanted to make the mistake of overpromising and underdelivering that it made with Shattered Space.
Starfield's first expansion truly fell short of the mark. The late, great, Alex McHugh said it best: "Shattered Space shows Bethesda doesn't understand its own legacy." Despite drawing heavy inspiration from Morrowind, the great houses introduced here felt interchangeably flat. If it's to rectify Starfield's reputation, and hoist it to the heights of the RPG greats, Bethesda can't afford to dish out another lukewarm offering. From what I've seen today, though, it could very well be onto a winner.