Bethesda has confirmed that its spacefaring sci-fi RPG Starfield will continue to be supported by the developer, even after suffering layoffs and has refocused on core franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

This comes from a staggering blog post from Bethesda Game Studios, which addresses the future of all of its different RPG series. Starfield gets its own dedicated section, titled “Starfield Continues”, Bethesda revealed the game has been played by over 17m players for nearly a billion hours. It also says outright that Starfield “remains an important part of our future.”

This section also says that as part of Starfield’s third year of post-launch support, the game will receive “new stories”, gameplay improvements, and additional updates. There will also be more “Starborn content” coming next year, and additional support for the Starfield Creations modding system that the company says over 40 percent of players have made use of.

This post comes shortly after the studio was hit by layoffs, as part of Xbox’s wider “reset” to the gaming company and the studios it owns. According to reports, Bethesda lost key staff, morale was hit hard, and even the developer’s highly anticipated Elder Scrolls 6 was impacted. In response, the Bethesda developer union announced plans to protest the cuts, saying “they mean business” and that Microsoft would “think twice” before attempting similar layoffs again.

Starfield launched to a mixed reception, with Bethesda’s approach to a more optimistic space exploration fantasy falling short of expectations for players and critics alike. Still, over the past few years, the game has seen considerable improvements through consistent updates. While it may not have the same lustre as the developer’s other big franchises, it still has a keen audience. Its inclusion in this letter comes across as assurance that, despite the blow the company has taken, the game remains important to the studio.

At the tail end of the post, Starfield is presented right alongside Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, which certainly implies its place in Bethesda’s long term plan. Time will tell if, and for how long, this will be true.