[LEAK] First Early Access Starfield Patch and Steam Deck Info – Bethesda Bugfixes Before Release

Anyone who has played a game by Bethesda Game Studio before knows that their games tend to be buggy (to say the least), and Starfield is unlikely to be an exception to this rule. And so, it should come as no surprise that, according to an anonymous source, the first patch notes for Starfield (Patch 1.7.23) are slated to include numerous bugfixes and stability enhancements to (hopefully) make the game run smoothly on release. Keep in mind that these were reported to Insider Gaming here from an anonymous source, so the information may be inaccurate. That said, let’s look at the Patch Notes and see what we can glean. Some of the most interesting of these patch notes give hints about aspects of the game (or, at least, remind us of some other classic “Bethesda Bugs”:

Fixed a rare issue that could cause Companions to float in the air.
Addressed an issue that sometimes caused face animations to move abruptly.
Adjusted the distance the player is able to access and store cargo in their ship.
Fixed a rare issue that could potentially trap the player in The Facility.

The same anonymous source also gave Insider Gaming an idea of what to expect in terms of Steam Deck capability, telling them, “Starfield will run on both the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally with the correct drivers, but the hardware below the recommended minimum specs and performance may suffer.” So, lukewarm news for Steam Deck fans, it seems: the game might be able to run, but handheld machines might struggle to maintain performance, since their specs fall below the baseline.

Without further ado, though, let’s take a look at the leaked 1.7.23 Patch Notes for Starfield. Bare in mind that the last portion of these notes, Quest Fixes, includes some minor spoilers for the game:

Full Leaked Starfield 1.7.23 Patch Notes

Performance and Stability Fixes

Improved stability related to suspending and resuming the game. (Xbox Series X/S)
Fixed rare crash that could occur when viewing the credits after completing the game.
Fixed crash that could appear when repeatedly loading some saves inside of ships.
Various stability and performance improvements.

Visual Fixes

Fixed an issue where sometimes hair would not appear on characters.
Improved distant object appearance when transitioning to the surface of a planet.
Addressed an issue that sometimes caused face animations to move abruptly.
Fixed an issue where rarely in certain views white flashing boxes could appear in the Handscanner.
Fixed an issue that would cause an undesirable texture blend near the coastline.
Fixed an issue that would cause textures to degrade unnecessarily. (Xbox Series S)

Gameplay Fixes

Fixed a rare issue that could cause Companions to float in the air.
Fixed an issue that could cause some ship modules to become misaligned.
Fixed some issues that would prevent touch-down points from turning red in Ship Builder.
Fixed an issue that could cause the player to appear incorrectly when equipping items.
Addressed an issue that could prevent the Isolation skill from behaving as intended.
Adjusted the distance the player is able to access and store cargo in their ship.
Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause a long delay on the Press any button screen.

Quest Fixes

Fixed rare issue that could cause ship patrols not to appear for “First to Fight, First to Die.”
Addressed a rare issue where the Contraband scan would not occur potentially preventing landing at New Atlantis.
Fixed an unlikely issue that could prevent landing at New Atlantis during “Deep Cover.”
Fixed an issue that could prevent Heat Leeches from counting as killed after completing “A Legacy Forged.”
Fixed how a location would appear near a hidden Earth landmark.
Fixed a rare issue that could potentially trap the player in The Facility.
Addressed an infrequent issue where a Spacer Ship didn’t correctly appear for a radiant quest.
Fixed an unlikely issue that could appear during “Revelation” depending on how the player interacted with the Emissary.
Addressed an issue with the Deimos Slim bottom ship module that is used on the Razorleaf.
Fixed rare issue that could prevent companions from accompanying the player after “No Sudden Moves”.
Addressed a rare issue that could impact “Power from Beyond.”

So, there you have it; a number of Bethesda bugs squashed before the game has even released, a few minor quest spoilers, and some other interesting fixes to stability and performance. A nice first patch, for when people hop into the game on September 6th (or September 1st, for the Early Access that came with the premium edition).