Starfield Played By 13 Million Players and Bethesda Promises Updates Every Six Weeks Next Year

[GFreeman]

Bethesda has released its "end of the year update" for Starfield, as well as shared some statistics from the game, including the fact that it has been played by 13 million players. In addition, Bethesda has also promised updates every six weeks, starting in February next year.

While the published statistics do not give a lot of details and those 13 million players do not translate to actual sold games, mostly due to the Xbox Game Pass, it does have some fun facts, including that the game has over 22 million days played, with 40 hours as an average playtime per player, and that players have visited nearly 2 billion planets. As of February next year, Bethesda's new updates for Starfield will include everything from quality-of-life improvements to content and feature updates. Bethesda has also promised the all new gameplay options, as well as the official mod support with the launch of Creations. The first major expansion for the game, Shattered Space, is also under development and more information should be available next year.



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[sephiroth117]

Given the 8 years of development (and thus the budget), the lukewarm reception and the 13M figures (which includes sales but also people who just booted the game once in the GP subscription) I think it's not really on par with their critical and financial objectives IMHO, hence the aggressive reaction, which is good because the game really needs improvements.

I don't think it's a horrible game no, but it's as if they only played Fallout 4 and skyrim the last 8 years and did not see how the AAA(A) gaming industry moved to new animations, immersion, storytelling and everything. It's an old generation Bethesda RPG when it needed to really innovate and bring Bethesda to the next generation of gaming.

 

[Imouto]

The funniest part of all this is Microsoft telling the people who didn't like the game that they are playing it wrong via ChatGPT. It's peak corporativism.

 

[nguyen]

On Steam there are more Fallout 4 and Skyrim players than there are for Starfield LMAO

 

[b1k3rdude]

Still not going to play it untill, a) its drops below £30 and b) they fix all the showstopping bugs it has.

Thats said one of those is fixed already - no city maps. Some others of the top of my head -

- lack of ground vehicles.
- lack of anything to do or quests on undescovered planets.
- how empty the game is outside of the main spaces stations, citys, planets etc.
- Intellegent and user configurable fast travel.

 

[Denver]

Given the 8 years of development (and thus the budget), the lukewarm reception and the 13M figures (which includes sales but also people who just booted the game once in the GP subscription) I think it's not really on par with their critical and financial objectives IMHO, hence the aggressive reaction, which is good because the game really needs improvements.

I don't think it's a horrible game no, but it's as if they only played Fallout 4 and skyrim the last 8 years and did not see how the AAA(A) gaming industry moved to new animations, immersion, storytelling and everything. It's an old generation Bethesda RPG when it needed to really innovate and bring Bethesda to the next generation of gaming.

It has "evolved" so much that I prefer to play Skyrim than 90% of the supposedly amazing games that have been released in recent years. I suspect it's already close to 400-500M dollars if you count PC and console, if that's not a financial success I don't know what is.

 

[Rowsol]

On Steam there are more Fallout 4 and Skyrim players than there are for Starfield LMAO

Mods saved those (as with all Bethesda games), in particularly FO4. Let's see where this game is in a year.

 

[Vayra86]

On Steam there are more Fallout 4 and Skyrim players than there are for Starfield LMAO

There are even more No Man's Sky players, go figure.

Mods saved those (as with all Bethesda games), in particularly FO4. Let's see where this game is in a year.

Still broken, unless they know how to mod out all those loading screens.

 

[sephiroth117]

It has "evolved" so much that I prefer to play Skyrim than 90% of the supposedly amazing games that have been released in recent years. I suspect it's already close to 400-500M dollars if you count PC and console, if that's not a financial success I don't know what is.

You need to account GP subscriptions not just do 13mil X 60 bucks, we don't know the ratio of GP subscribers vs sales, and we don't know what is their objective indeed, you'd need to account for 8 years times the number of employees alongside the budget marketing of the game.

And...my main issue it is no Skyrim, I'd be happy if exploration and immersion were as on-point as in Skyrim...I was bored much more than in Skyrim which is one of my all-time favourite game btw.

If TES VI is that close to the 2011 Skyrim I'd be disappointed too, it's not about making what others are making, it's about evolving, Starfield did not evolve Bethesda enough for me, especially around the story/characters/animation/immersion part I mentioned

 

[Denver]

You need to account GP subscriptions not just do 13mil X 60 bucks, we don't know the ratio of GP subscribers vs sales, and we don't know what is their objective indeed, you'd need to account for 8 years times the number of employees alongside the budget marketing of the game.

And...my main issue it is no Skyrim, I'd be happy if exploration and immersion were as on-point as in Skyrim...I was bored much more than in Skyrim which is one of my all-time favourite game btw.

If TES VI is that close to the 2011 Skyrim I'd be disappointed too, it's not about making what others are making, it's about evolving, Starfield did not evolve Bethesda enough for me, especially around the story/characters/animation/immersion part I mentioned

I was assuming that on consoles they had a performance at least similar to that of Steam.

Games are a matter of taste, a lot of people hate Skyrim, just as there are millions who simply love the game and have spent hundreds of hours playing it, myself included. The same goes for Starfield, being a fan of Bethesda games and a casual player I can't have the same perception that other people had. I expected a broken game with grotesque bugs that prevented play and minimal graphical advances, but they delivered a game that works better than practically any other AAA release this year, I also noticed huge graphical advances compared to the company's other games.

Yes, I see design errors, there were bad choices during development, I think the AI and combat mechanics deserved to be much better. But that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the best games of the year.

 

[scottslayer]

I am proud of Todd for making No Man's Sky 2: This Time Its Personal (Literally)

 

[Icon Charlie]

Given the 8 years of development (and thus the budget), the lukewarm reception and the 13M figures (which includes sales but also people who just booted the game once in the GP subscription) I think it's not really on par with their critical and financial objectives IMHO, hence the aggressive reaction, which is good because the game really needs improvements.

I don't think it's a horrible game no, but it's as if they only played Fallout 4 and skyrim the last 8 years and did not see how the AAA(A) gaming industry moved to new animations, immersion, storytelling and everything. It's an old generation Bethesda RPG when it needed to really innovate and bring Bethesda to the next generation of gaming.

The 13 million figure is market spin doctoring. I know this crap first hand when I used to deal with people in that industry. Even if you leave the game for years/forever you are still counted as being a player on it.

What counts are Actual players on a 8 hours time period.

 

[qlum]

Not having played the game, just read what has been posted about it. I don't think patches are going to salvage this one anytime soon. Bugs you can fix a disjointed not so well designed game, probably not. I would just say let the game be a turd, learn from your mistakes and move on.

 

[Frick]

Still not going to play it untill, a) its drops below £30 and b) they fix all the showstopping bugs it has.

I have 90 hours in the game and I have seen very few bugs, none of them showstopping.

 

[HD64G]

No Man's Sky is a great game for anyone liking a light campaign with limitless planets, creatures, ship designs in sandbox mode. Starfield might never become a great game with the design choices they made. Just an opinion. Future will show what will happen.

 

[Avro Arrow]

An update every six weeks, eh? I'm forced to wonder what will be in those updates because I haven't encountered any game-breaking bugs that need fixed. I started playing it in late September because I had to finish Hogwarts Legacy first. I'm not usually an early-adopter, but it was free with my XTX so I figured "Why not?". Now, if they add more content, that would be awesome.

Given the 8 years of development (and thus the budget), the lukewarm reception and the 13M figures (which includes sales but also people who just booted the game once in the GP subscription) I think it's not really on par with their critical and financial objectives IMHO, hence the aggressive reaction, which is good because the game really needs improvements.

I don't think it's a horrible game no, but it's as if they only played Fallout 4 and skyrim the last 8 years and did not see how the AAA(A) gaming industry moved to new animations, immersion, storytelling and everything. It's an old generation Bethesda RPG when it needed to really innovate and bring Bethesda to the next generation of gaming.

I haven't played Fallout 4 but I have played Skyrim. I rank Skyrim as one of the top-3 best RPGs that I've ever played along with Witcher III and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. I have to admit that I've REALLY been enjoying playing Starfield. I think that it's a fantastic game.

The funniest part of all this is Microsoft telling the people who didn't like the game that they are playing it wrong via ChatGPT. It's peak corporativism.

Yeah, I try to ignore all that BS because there's nothing we can do to stop it. However, that reflects far more poorly on Microsoft than it does on Starfield.

Still not going to play it untill, a) its drops below £30 and b) they fix all the showstopping bugs it has.

Spoken like someone who hasn't ever played it. I got the game for free with my XTX and I would've played it right away but I was in the middle of Hogwarts: Legacy at the time so I started playing in late September. I haven't encountered ANY "showstopping" bugs at all and I'm currently in my third playthrough. The game's actually pretty awesome, far better than I expected.

Thats said one of those is fixed already - no city maps. Some others of the top of my head -

- lack of ground vehicles.
- lack of anything to do or quests on undescovered planets.
- how empty the game is outside of the main spaces stations, citys, planets etc.
- Intellegent and user configurable fast travel.

Those aren't bugs, those are omissions. They would be bugs if they were supposed to be included but weren't. I will admit that these are negatives about the game but they're not bugs.

It has "evolved" so much that I prefer to play Skyrim than 90% of the supposedly amazing games that have been released in recent years. I suspect it's already close to 400-500M dollars if you count PC and console, if that's not a financial success I don't know what is.

There are four RPGs that I consider to be absolute masterpieces. In order of release, they are Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt, Far Cry 5 and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. I have never played an RPG that I have enjoyed more than those before or since.

Not having played the game, just read what has been posted about it. I don't think patches are going to salvage this one anytime soon. Bugs you can fix a disjointed not so well designed game, probably not. I would just say let the game be a turd, learn from your mistakes and move on.

I've played the game since a month after launch and there are no serious bugs in the game. There are the odd visual bugs but nothing that has anything to do with the game's functionality. I don't play it light either, I play it at 4K Ultra.

I have 90 hours in the game and I have seen very few bugs, none of them showstopping.

You won't see any. I've been playing since late September and I've yet to encounter any. There are the odd visual bugs that make you laugh. I once blew up a pirate's jetpack and the pirate got lodged into the ceiling of an "Abandoned Cryo-Lab" and just hung there. That was just hilarious to see.

EDIT: It looks like someone else had the same thing happen in the exact same room of the Abandoned Cryo-Lab as I did (except his enemy was an Ecliptic Mercenary):
View attachment so-this-guys-backpack-decided-to-throw-him-on-the-ceiling-v0-xqh1rflwlllb1.webp

 

[b1k3rdude]

Spoken like someone who hasn't ever played it. I got the game for free with my XTX and I would've played it right away but I was in the middle of Hogwarts: Legacy at the time so I started playing in late September. I haven't encountered ANY "showstopping" bugs at all and I'm currently in my third playthrough. The game's actually pretty awesome, far better than I expected.

Clearly whats considered a showstopping bug to you and everyone else is very different. Not having city maps or vast swathes of the game devoid of anything do for the player to do is a major game design faux pas imho. But as J2C is fond of saying, I digress.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Clearly whats considered a showstopping bug to you and everyone else is very different. Not having city maps or vast swathes of the game devoid of anything do for the player to do is a major game design faux pas imho. But as J2C is fond of saying, I digress.

You said "showstopping bug" and the term "bug" was defined long before you and I were even born. A bug is an unintended problem but what you're describing is not a bug but a missing game element that you consider important. If you've decided to re-define what a computer bug is in your mind, that's on you, not anyone else.

I agree with you that a planetside vehicle would be great because there's no question that it gets annoying has hell having to run everywhere on foot when you have limited sprint capacity.
The blank planets are for the most part useless but every planet and moon (except gas giants and ice giants) has resources that you can extract.

The game is empty to give you the feeling of being alone in space and the time period in which it is set would be unrealistic if it weren't mostly empty. At the point in time that Starfield represents, humanity has only colonised a handful of worlds. There's also the RL aspect of the game to consider as it's already ~130GB in size and making it larger would cause some people .

I have no problem with the fast travel system. I actually find it to be one of the most comprehensive fast travel systems that I've ever seen in a game.

The city maps aren't an issue because you do eventually remember where everything is. The largest cities are New Atlantis and Akila City and while they can be daunting at first, it doesn't take long to remember where everything is. I could tell you exactly where everything is in each city at this point without missing a beat. That learning curve is part of the fun for me.

It sounds like the game isn't for you and that's ok, no game is for everyone. However, those aren't bugs. A bug causes the game to crash or puts a quest-critical item or npc in a place that you can't reach. These are just aspects of the game itself that you don't like.

 

[ZoneDymo]

its just a bad game....

 

[trsttte]

The game is empty to give you the feeling of being alone in space

The game is empty because they run out of either time or budget (or both). Fixed it for you

I didn't play it yet but what you describe sounds like an unfinished game. It can still be great fun but it doesn't change the fact that it's unfinished. At least it works alright contrary to the usual unfinished and broken combo.

 

[Vayra86]

There are four RPGs that I consider to be absolute masterpieces. In order of release, they are Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt, Far Cry 5 and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. I have never played an RPG that I have enjoyed more than those before or since.

And only the first two are actual RPGs Skyrim being RPG-lite even.

Unless you count an RPG-7 as one in FC5

 

[THU31]

30 FPS console game with the most static world and dumb AI. This is the biggest step backwards I've ever seen any developer take in their games.

Cool main story, pretty good shooting mechanics, everything else is terrible. Exploration, the main aspect of Bethesda games, was basically removed.

 

[ecin96]

I clocked up 300 hours and stopped, just as the DLSS patch came out 6/10 it's a game, sort of, all the bits have been smushed together. Can't say it was anything amazing and I'm already forgetting parts of it. Maybe the high game hours reflects people searching for fun in the game, it is there, spread really thinly over 1000 empty worlds.

It will be interesting to know what patches are going to be released, I mean according to Bethesda the game is already running perfectly and it's our own PCs that aren't fast enough. What patches could there possible be if the game is already optimised and running as intended?

 

[Dr. Dro]

The funniest part of all this is Microsoft telling the people who didn't like the game that they are playing it wrong via ChatGPT. It's peak corporativism.

Just like Mojang, ZeniMax Media operates independently with little to no input from Microsoft corporate.

I clocked up 300 hours and stopped, just as the DLSS patch came out 6/10 it's a game, sort of, all the bits have been smushed together. Can't say it was anything amazing and I'm already forgetting parts of it. Maybe the high game hours reflects people searching for fun in the game, it is there, spread really thinly over 1000 empty worlds.

It will be interesting to know what patches are going to be released, I mean according to Bethesda the game is already running perfectly and it's our own PCs that aren't fast enough. What patches could there possible be if the game is already optimised and running as intended?

It's going to receive content updates? Performance improvements? Come on.

 

[marcomarti]

Funny AI