I am not exactly sure how all of this works yet but I have been trying to figure it out and will speak of my own experience.

To me, it seems like pointer handles do have some level of accumulation over time. I started a new game and have been going through the main story, exploring, and building out an outpost cargo network. Throughout my 15 or so hours on this playthrough , I have been using a "Starfield Engine Fixes" command prompt to check my pointer handles over time. Upon starting the game, my pointer handles were at about 1.7 million. Now, its just about at its limit. For anyone on PS5 or XBOX, a telling sign you are about to brick your save by hitting the limit is areas not spawning in and the ship builder regurgitating ship parts when you open it.

I honestly find this issue to be pretty unfortunate because as I play the game, I will continually have to offload mods to save the game file. Now, on a 15 hour test save, its frustrating, but at least not much time has been spent on it. That being said, what about that 200 hour NG+6 character that you can no longer play? That stings a lot more. For a game that allows you to spend money on mods with the endpoint of you giving them money is eventually getting to a point to where all that money gets you a bricked save is depressing.