Starfield Beta Update 1.8.83 – Beta Build Live, Time to Eat

Starfield’s Beta has updated to 1.8.83 and, with the update, can now be accessed and played via Steam. Until now, the beta build of Starfield, which Bethesda uses to test new features before bringing them to the live game, has been inaccessible to Starfield players. But now, players are able to opt in to the beta, which has new features such as Nvidia DLSS Support and the ability for you to eat food in the environment (rather than having to pick it up and consume it from your inventory).

You can “Opt In” to the Starfield Beta by right clicking on the game in your Steam library, selecting “Properties”, and then navigating to the “Beta” section and selecting “[beta]”, which will automatically download the beta files for the game so that you can launch into the test version. This beta is only available for Steam players on PC, though the full update will go live “later this month”, according to the Steam community post for the beta changes.

As for the changes that you can expect to see in Starfield’s Beta 1.8.83, they are as follows:

Starfield Beta Update 1.8.83 Change List

Performance And Stability

• Addressed a number of memory related issues and leaks.
• [PC Only] Add some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher end cards.
• [PC Only] Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher end systems.
• Various stability and performance improvements.

Gameplay

• Added the ability to eat the food placed in the world
• Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
• Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
• Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes.
• Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching the Unity and starting a new game.
• Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering the Unity.
• PC: Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
• Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.

Graphics

• Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
• Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
• Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
• Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only).
• Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
• Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
• Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
• Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.

Quests

• All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
• Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
• Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
• Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players’ quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
• Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
• No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
• Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
• Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
• Short Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
• The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.

Players on PC will be able to access these changes on Steam by opting-in to the beta, which is now available to all players. And soon, these changes should find their way to the base game in an update for all players on both PC and Xbox, making the galaxy that much better!