It has been almost three months since Starfield was released and became a twisted overnight phenomenon. It picked up mixed feedback but managed to sell over ten million copies in just a few days, becoming regarded as the biggest launch in Bethesda’s history. Over time, Starfield’s reputation has wavered as more and more players and publications realise that it was dramatically overhyped and didn’t deliver as well as everyone hoped it would.
On Steam, the game’s player count has plummeted significantly as more gamers move on from Bethesda Game Studios’ space-based epic RPG. From a launch peak player count of 330,597 to a 24-hour peak of just 22,709, Starfield’s numbers are being openly challenged by the likes of Skyrim and Fallout 4, the best representatives of Bethesda’s two other top-tier franchises.
Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
In the last day, Skyrim’s ‘current’ player count overtook Starfield’s count by a good 1000 users or so. Fallout 4 isn’t far behind, and it’s expected that once that pesky HD upgrade has been released by Bethesda Game Studios, thousands of players will come flooding back to the post-apocalyptic game, pushing the count up above Starfield’s numbers with ease.
Starfield was ambitious and in development for years, but ultimately, it fell somewhat flat at launch. It presented a universe of opportunities, but it quickly became apparent that those opportunities were rinse-and-repeat renditions of the same formula deployed over and over again. It felt as though nothing about Starfield was memorable, from the factions to the side missions, and the companions to the villains.
Related: One Month Later, I’ve Forgotten About Starfield
For a sci-fi enthusiast, Starfield is more manageable, boasting endless potential in the ship-building and space combat arenas, but visiting the game’s 1000+ planets quickly becomes a tiring grind that ultimately offers little in the way of rewards. Even the ‘innovative endgame’ turned out to be a stale loop that gets very old, very fast.
Is it any wonder that the game is fast being beaten by Skyrim, one of the greatest open-world RPG games of all time, or by Fallout 4, arguably the most popular pinnacle of post-apocalyptic gaming? It’s really hard to see a world in which thousands of people are playing Starfield 12 years from now like they are with Skyrim.
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