Highlights
- Playing Starfield through PC Game Pass limits modding potential compared to buying it on Steam, as the Universal Windows Platform version is incompatible with the Starfield Script Extender (SFSE).
- Microsoft's decision to release Starfield on Xbox Game Pass indicates its confidence in subscription content, but it comes at the cost of modding capabilities for players.
- SFSE, a tool crucial for modding Bethesda RPGs, will likely never support the PC Game Pass version of Starfield due to the differences between UWP and Steam executables. Buying the game through Steam is recommended for serious modding.
Playing Starfield via PC Game Pass requires Microsoft's subscribers to forfeit a big chunk of the game's modding potential compared to buying it on Steam. This inherent disadvantage of the more accessible version of the game was confirmed just as Starfield received a same-day release on Xbox Game Pass following a five-day early access period.
As Bethesda's first new AAA RPG since the Microsoft acquisition, Starfield is very much one of the highlights of the 2023 Xbox Game Pass lineup. Microsoft's decision to ditch the best Xbox Game Pass deal just ahead of its release attests to that fact, signaling that Starfield boosted the company's confidence in its subscription content to an all-time high.
Yet playing Starfield via PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate prevents players from perusing a wide variety of mods, which many consider to be one of the biggest selling points – or, at the very least, secondary benefits – of Bethesda RPGs. Namely, the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version of the game that's distributed via Microsoft Store and PC Game Pass is incompatible with the Starfield Script Extender (SFSE), a tool that is likely to be at the center of the RPG's modding scene for the foreseeable future. This was confirmed by SFSE creator Ian Patterson, who previously authored immensely influential script extenders for Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and Fallout: New Vegas.
While SFSE is still in its infancy, many Starfield mods already use its limited functionality to dynamically load libraries, and countless more are likely to follow. Patterson's past projects have all proven to be crucial in facilitating some of the most complex and popular mods for all of Bethesda's Creation Engine RPGs released in over a decade, so anyone wanting to engage in some serious Starfield modding on PC is all but guaranteed to hit a roadblock if they don't buy the game via Steam.
The reason why SFSE doesn't work with the PC Game Pass version of Starfield comes down to the fact that UWP executables are significantly different from Steam ones. Developing third-party software for injecting libraries into UWP processes is also no easy feat, which is by design and done for cybersecurity reasons. Given that state of affairs, it is dubious whether SFSE will ever support the PC Game Pass version of Starfield, and its developer certainly doesn't intend to even entertain that idea anytime soon, not least because he already has his work cut out for him.
Granted, Starfield already offers plenty of possibilities even without mods, as was to be expected from a Bethesda title. But anyone hoping to eventually mod their game with anything much more substantial than simple asset packs and reskins – like new quests, factions, and gameplay mechanics – will probably need to buy it via Steam or face disappointment once such high-effort community content starts releasing.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Ian Patterson / Nexus Mods