This is a radical statement, we know, but it looks as if Starfield is turning out be a big smash. Okay, we’re being a tad facetious there but we’re still glad. If it had bombed, it’d have been another 25 years till Bethesda attempted a new IP. But Starfield has smashed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s Steam player record, with over 300,000 spacefarers playing the game concurrently.
While Starfield is available on Xbox and PC Game Pass, if you want to play it on Steam you have to purchase it outright. So, of those 313,993 players (as reported by SteamDB), every single one of them has paid for the game. SteamDB also estimates over a million people own the game, which is a hell of an achievement.
However, while Starfield has beaten Skyrim’s 297,822 concurrent player count, it’s not quite reached the heights of Baldur’s Gate 3. Granted, SteamDB isn’t necessarily 100%, but Baldur’s Gate 3’s all-time peak is 875,343. Should Bethesda see this as a shocking, shocking failure?
No, not in the least. Firstly, Phil Spencer has reported that there have been over 1,000,000 concurrent Starfield players across all platforms. Technically, Baldur’s Gate 3 has beaten Starfield’s concurrent player record but that doesn’t factor in those playing it PC Game Pass. Nor do BG3’s figures take into account those who’ve purchased BG3 through GOG or on PS5.
Also, while we couldn’t resist comparing them, these are two very different games, each with their own merits. In terms of story and character, Baldur’s Gate 3 has more depth, based on our experience, but we’re still loving the hell out of Starfield. The latter feels ‘safer’, not least because no-one’s put a worm in our eye, but we’re still finding it hard to tear ourselves away from it.
But it’s fascinating, and a little staggering, to see just how many people are enjoying these games. And if anyone wants to mod Karlach into Starfield, we definitely wouldn’t object.
