Starfield 2 seems unjustified, according to ex-Bethesda developer Kurt Kuhlmann

• According to IGN, Bethesda is still working on additional DLC and updates for Starfield.
• Todd Howard confirmed in July that Bethesda will keep expanding the Settled Systems with new stories, gameplay tweaks, and new Starborn content.

What happened

IGN reports that Kurt Kuhlmann, a former lead systems designer at Bethesda, shared his doubts about a possible Starfield 2 in an interview with FRVR. According to Kuhlmann, Starfield was not successful enough to justify a sequel. IGN cites that comment as the personal view of a former Bethesda developer, not as an official decision from the studio.

Kuhlmann also said a sequel would have benefited from the lessons learned from the first game. In his view, Starfield 2 could have come closer to Todd Howard’s original vision for the game. IGN ties that remark to the broader discussion about how Bethesda might approach a potential sequel, but it does not mention any internal sales target, player threshold, or other concrete metric used by the studio itself.

At the same time, IGN says Bethesda is still working on new DLC for Starfield. The article does not give a release date, title, or content details for that expansion. Still, the report fits the picture of Bethesda continuing to support the game after launch with extra content and updates rather than immediately announcing a sequel.

Todd Howard had already repeated in July that Bethesda will keep supporting Starfield. According to the quoted statement, the studio wants to keep expanding the Settled Systems with new stories, targeted gameplay improvements, additional updates, and new Starborn content planned for next year. The source does not specify which update or expansion will arrive first, and it also does not say how many separate content packs Bethesda still has in development.

Background

Starfield launched as Bethesda’s big sci-fi RPG and has received multiple updates and expansions since release. The source does not mention any sales figure, player count, or internal success metric that Bethesda would use to judge a sequel. As a result, it remains unclear what exact threshold the studio would use internally for a second game.

Kuhlmann’s comments are a personal assessment, not an official Bethesda announcement. The source also does not say that Starfield 2 has been confirmed. IGN frames the story as a response to the question of whether the game was commercially strong enough to support a sequel, while Bethesda, according to the same report, is still focused on supporting the existing game.

The reference to Todd Howard’s July statement underlines that Bethesda is still planning to expand the Settled Systems with new stories, gameplay changes, extra updates, and Starborn content next year. The source does not give an exact date for that content or details on the scope of the planned additions.

Because the source does not include hard numbers, any conclusion about Starfield’s commercial performance is limited to what Kuhlmann said in the interview. It is also important to distinguish between ongoing DLC support and a formal sequel: IGN reports the former, but not the latter.

Sources

• IGN: "I don't think Starfield was anywhere near successful enough to do a Starfield 2"