Starfield was supposed to be Bethesda’s next big thing, on a par with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. But it was released to a decidedly mixed reception and in the five months since it launched, it’s lost over 97% of its Steam player base.
As game launches go, Starfield was not the stellar success that Bethesda and parent company Microsoft probably hoped for. This space-based action RPG may have been Bethesda’s biggest launch but, less than six months later, it’s lost 97% of its Steam player base.
After peaking at 330,273 concurrent Steam players shortly after launch, Starfield is now down to just under 9,000 (via SteamDB). By contrast, over 25,000 Steam players are currently playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The game’s reviews are currently sitting at mixed, which is a step up from the previous ‘mostly negative‘. And the Steam figures don’t account for those who are purchased it via the Xbox store or are playing it on Game Pass. But it’s still not a great look for Bethesda, particularly when you consider that these players paid for the game.
Bethesda does have big plans for Starfield, which involves releasing a new update every six weeks. The last Starfield update featured over 100 fixes, though not much in the way of additional content. There’s more on the way, including “all new ways of travelling”, but, right now, Starfield mods are doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Starfield gives you over a thousand planets to explore, with locations like New Atlantis and Neon City. But it’s Starfield’s dead planets that get in the way, and with accusations that the game’s boring, it’s something that’s harder to address.
Bethesda’s got a way to go if they want Starfield to have Skyrim’s staying power. If you’re sticking with it, here’s how to build the best Starfield outpost or if you’re ready to move on, these are the best games like Starfield.
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