Bethesda is celebrating Starfield as their biggest launch of all time. The game already boasts a truly massive player count and some big names couldn’t be happier for them.
Starfield has cemented itself as a generational RPG and though some mixed reviews have gamers divided on that, its popularity can’t be understated. During its pre-release, Starfield toppled GTA V and League of Legends as Twitch’s most-watched game.
The game has since cemented itself as one of the biggest titles of the year, despite not drawing the viewership of other 2023 releases like Hogwarts Legacy and Diablo 4. It’s not viewership that Bethesda is celebrating but player count.
The Starfield Twitter account announced that as of September 8, the game had totaled over 6 million players since its global launch. This makes it the most-played Bethesda title on release ever.
As of this morning, #Starfield has already surpassed 6 million players, making it the biggest Bethesda game launch of all time. pic.twitter.com/4yZa1lAYjW
— Starfield (@StarfieldGame) September 7, 2023
To put things in perspective, Fallout 4 sold an estimated 5.2 million copies over its first week and Skyrim before it sold 3.4 million within two days of its release. Starfield has passed both quite handily in a single day (if you don’t count early access).
Starfield coming to Game Pass on day one has almost certainly helped this figure. Players on both PC and Xbox have been able to play the game ostensibly free at launch.
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Even still, 6 million players in a single day is unquestionably a massive achievement. Especially when you consider Starfield’s exclusivity and the loss of the PlayStation player base, for whom Bethesda games were massively popular during the previous console generation.
Industry figures including PlayStation developers have praised Bethesda’s work on Starfield and this particular achievement. Even Hideo Kojima is helping in the effort to maximize the game’s player count. Game truly recognizes game.
— 小島秀夫 (@Kojima_Hideo) September 7, 2023
There’s no telling just yet whether or not Starfield will be able to reach the astonishing total sales of Skyrim of course.
The fantasy RPG has sold over 60 million units since its initial release in 2011. If Bethesda is willing to re-release more than five separate versions of Starfield over the next decade and make it playable on a fridge, it could be in with a chance