Summary
- Starfield's sales success in 2023 as the #11 bestselling game contradicts its mixed critical reception, making it an outlier as a profitable new IP.
- Despite a "mixed" reception on Steam and a 6.8 Metacritic score, Starfield's commercial performance and player engagement were solid.
- Bethesda's post-launch support and upcoming DLC, Shattered Space, show promise for Starfield's future success and improvement.
Bethesda Games Studio's Starfield was one of the most hyped and anticipated titles from last year. The developer had been well-known for its prior ambitious open-world RPGs, though certainly with their own specific design and related quirks that many fans have come to expect. Starfield seemed to indeed hit on many of the familiar notes that Bethesda is known for, even as the studio explored new angles with its NASA-punk sci-fi world and story.
While perhaps Starfield's public reception didn't necessarily reflect this, it put up big sales numbers for 2023. Starfield ended up taking the #11 spot on the list of top 20 best-selling games last year. As Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft in 2021, Starfield was a day-one Game Pass inclusion, making its placement on that list a bit more notable, since a significant portion of players did not have to purchase it outright. This places Starfield in a peculiar spot, as its mixed and muted critical and fan reactions don't translate to its raw figures, making the whole situation slightly strange, and Starfield itself a bit of an odd duck in this instance.
Bethesda has been putting out steady Starfield updates and patches since launch, and a major DLC, Shattered Space, is set to release sometime later in 2024.
Starfield's Less Than Stellar Reception Shouldn't Send the Wrong Message
Starfield has received mixed reception since release, but this shouldn't dissuade Bethesda Studios from attempting other new ideas in the future.
Starfield's Sales Success Versus Critical Reception Makes for a Strange Situation
Starfield's Spot on the Best-Selling Titles of 2023
According to reported figures, the top 20 best-selling games of 2023 were:
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Madden NFL 24
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Diablo 4
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
- EA Sports FC 24
- Starfield
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- MLB: The Show 2023
- Dead Island 2
- Final Fantasy 16
- Street Fighter 6
- Elden Ring
- Mario Kart 8
- Minecraft
Starfield sits almost directly in the middle, with a stated $657 million in sales. While the above list is composed of great titles, nearly all were the latest entries in established franchises. The exceptions were FromSoftware's new IP, the 2022-released Elden Ring, and, to a lesser extent, Capcom's Resident Evil 4 Remake, with the original and its many ports having previously set records.
Starfield thus stands out as being able to hold its own against these long-running and hugely popular properties. Regardless of the perceived reactions to it as a gaming experience, it can't really be said to have underperformed in this area.
Starfield's Current Status and Possible Futures
Starfield rests at this moment at an average of "mixed" reviews on Steam and a 6.8 Metacritic audience score. Though it might not have been as warmly welcomed as Bethesda may have liked in terms of critical and fan response, the previous sales numbers above are self-evident, and Starfield was by no means a commercial failure. There were also plenty of players who enjoyed what it had to offer in its gameplay, characters, and storylines; sinking hundreds of hours into exploring its universe for interesting planets and other secrets.
With it gaining some positive traction recently as Bethesda continues post-launch support via various QOL and other improvements aimed at polishing out its remaining rougher spots, Starfield's forthcoming Shattered Space DLC is also likely to renew interest in it. The prevailing thought is that between now and its release, Starfield's overall state will have further stabilized as well as introduce several desired additional features. Still, it makes for an interesting case study given the surrounding factors and shows that, like its main Constellation faction, Starfield seems to be in somewhat uncharted territory, which may provide new opportunities for it to make impressions in the future.
Starfield
- Released
- September 6, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.
The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours
- Metascore
- 86
- File Size Xbox Series
- 101 GB (September 2023)
