Xbox Boss Says Starfield 'Exceeded' 1 Million Concurrent Players On Launch Day

Despite all the criticism and some issues, it's a damn good game from a damn good studio - I see no reason for it not to achieve this goal. Even though currently I'm fully into BG3, still looking forward to play Starfield. Congratulations to Bethesda and Todd on another awesome title in their collection.

Very interested in the sort of numbers that get through the game in its entirety. I am very hopeful I'll make it but so far I'm struggling to see it gripping me enough. Admittedly I'm still in the early hours which is known to be a bit drab. I think I managed to complete Oblivion and Fallout 3, but never made it through any other Bethesda RPG since (F:NV gave up, F4 game breaking bug, Skyrim game breaking bug).

Great achievement for a great game. I can’t wait to get back to it. It’s easily my GOTY so far, not forgetting all the other great games I have played this year (still haven’t started Pikmin 4 though so… you know).

Even more cocurrent players than Hogwarts Legacy and BG3 at it's peak - Thats crazy impressive for a single player game.

Edit - Technically Hogwarts Legacy had more cc players than Starfield because they were no1 for steam and consoles were not counted but 2nd is still crazy good!

@Exerion76

I'm the exact opposite.

I am hooked so far. Really great game

I was hooked, but im one of many who finds this game triggers motion sickness. It makes me so ill I cant imagine ever playing it again.
Having done a quick search 'Starfield motion sickness', I can see Im not the only one who cant handle this including several people who have never gotten this from a game before.
Its so dissapointing as I was enjoying it a lot and imagined spending 100s of hours in it. Not to be.

Easily my GOTY. It won't be for everyone (what game is) but it's just so much fun for me and the sort of space game I've been waiting for.

@Titntin Have you tried turning off Motion Blur and Film Grain? I tend to turn them off on every game because they can sometimes cause me to feel a little nauseous.

I see IGN UK is included on that list of review scores? 🤣

Really enjoying it at the moment.

@Darylb88 Neither of those were on GamePass though. While 1M players I great, I think GP skews it a little.

The cynic in me says the reason so many didn’t get review codes is for that tweet.

It’s certainly not a 10/10 game in any measure of a game. In fact my impressions of it lowered after my first proper day. But still a good and enjoyable game.

I just can’t see anything good about this game. I’ll have to try it but it looks so bland and don’t get me started on the PRONOUNS!😆

@CrimsonRidley Thanks mate. Yes I tried both switched off.
Ill try it again on pc when I can edit the fov..

@FatalBubbles Not really, you either want to play it or you don't! this isn't about what game sold the most copies or made the most money (Hogwarts Legacy) I am just tallking about the number of players who are actually playing the game. Any game that has over 1 million players playing a single player game at any one time is a insane achievement.

I guess if you exculde Gamepass then Hogwarts Legacy has the crown on everything.

I would imagine 1m people played it day one then maybe half keep playing it

@FatalBubbles GP isn’t skewing the numbers it is just a different way gamers are purchasing games. At the end of the day, Starfield will sell a lot of consoles, a lot of new GP subscribers and a lot of GP renewals. Add to that the number of people who just bought it outright and how many bought the early access… the mind boggles…

@Darylb88 It’s a lot easier to play when it costs $0, right? It is a good achievement, I just think lumping in people not paying for a game with games that don’t have that option isn’t exactly apples to apples. I am in no way trying to say anything bad about the game. I’m enjoying it.

@AlwaysPlaying It absolutely skews the numbers when we are comparing it to games that can only be bought at full price.

@FatalBubbles The 1mil players was pre the GP launch and based on purchase of the early access version/upgrade. Also it hit those Xbox numbers separately from the PC version which also had 1mil buys of the early access version.

Edit - My bad, I confused concurrent with overall players, brain farted. Still, it posted very impressive pre release player counts. See 6:10 of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSA9W6nJF_g

In fairness, @Darylb88, BG3 did get a much higher concurrent players on the PC than Starfield has. There were 850K playing BG3 concurrently on PC alone. Starfield has managed 1 million across both PC AND Xbox.

Don't misunderstand me, I have the Constellation edition of the game (the one with the watch) sat unopened on my settee, and I cannot wait to dive in. So I'm in no way knocking Starfield. Just pointing out that you were actually mistaken in your statement.

That said, I saw a video the other day, saying that 1 million bought Starfield in early access on Steam, and a further 1 million had done so on the Xbox. You would think that if that was the case, that they would also play them, yes? I mean, what would be the point in paying for early access and then not using it? You would also think that that would not only be something for Phil to crow about, but also, if true, it would probably mean that Starfield had beaten BG3 in concurrent players.

Either way, they are two magnificent games, that we are very lucky to have in such short succession. Personally, I don't think I'll be getting round to playing anything other than those two for the rest of the year, which is testament to the quality of the games... 😊

@Shigurui Can you source this?

I think Starfield will definitely be a Game of the Year nominee, @K1LLEGAL, and it will win the Xbox Game of the Year Award, but the overall crown, and the vast majority of such awards will go to Baldur's Gate 3.

I get that Starfield will have the wider appeal, but being popular does not necessarily make it the best game. I've seen people saying Starfield will win because of its popularity, and that BG3 won't because it is a niche game, but that just isn't how these things work. The best game should win out, and usually does.

I imagine that there will be an award nominated by the public, and that Starfield will be in the running then, but again, I don't think that it will beat BG3, partly because Starfield is not on the PlayStation, and so where will they put their votes? Unlikely to be Starfield, I would imagine...

Coming from a person who usually drops off Bethesda games after about an hour or 2, I can honestly say this is the best one and I am actually sticking with it.

I think the biggest problem with other Bethesda game is the sheer amount of walking required to really find anything. Plus, it always feels like you're wandering aimlessly.

I feel this game has actual direction - I know exactly where I need to go and do, or I can just simply choose not to (but can easily find my way back to the main path). I can quickly travel around without walking for miles looking for my objective. The arrows from the Scanner help sometimes too!

Also, Skills tell me exactly what I need to know to build a character - I know exactly how many kills I need to make before the next Level is unlocked, etc.

I'm still a little fuzzy on what some of the stats on Suits mean. I also had no idea what a Digipick was for (saw a few along the way and I ignored them thinking they were junk because they had zero description to them like a lot of other junk you find) only to find out they are actually lockpicks.

I do think all that items that are consumables should be labelled as such. Food has a description of the effect. Crafting items are at least identified as crafting items. Digipick just look like they did nothing and could be ignored.

There is also some kind of molecule extractor I have found...but I don't know if those are junk. Again, is that just more futuristic window dressing?

I know some people are complaining about the game not being what they were expecting - I think some people were hoping for another No Man's Sky - but I like that things are a touch more focused.

I haven't done a huge amount of planet exploration yet - I think I am about 4 - 6 hours in and I haven't even really done much of the main mission except for getting to The Lodge and initiating the cutscene there (and talking to the members).

Anyways, well-done Bethesda and Microsoft. I am glad this one is sticking the landing (no pun intended). I hope this kind of momentum keeps up as it's definitely the boost Xbox Game Studios needed!

@FatalBubbles See above post, edited.

@Darylb88 Stats can be skewed and game pass absolutely does that. For example 1m players sounds like an impressive number but considering there are 25-30+ million game pass subscribers that have access to the game at no extra cost but only 1 million were playing it, that means that 24 million plus players didn't even bother to try it out.
For clarity Starfield has had a very successful launch, I'm only giving an example on how easily you can put a twist on stats to change the picture.

@Fiendish-Beaver this is saying 1 million on launch day. Early access had 1 million on PC and 1 million on Xbox . So 2 million total for early access and that was at $100 dollars a player. So very good start player and money wise. This report is saying 1 million on the normal launch day. BG3 is doing great also and while it’s not a game for me. I marvel at its excellence from a far and wish it was cause it’s a GOTY contender for sure. I am not a turn based RPG fan and boy do i sure miss out on a lot of good games cause of it Haha. Lots of great games out this year and it looks like this generation is finally starting. Enjoy friend 😊

@Shigurui Thanks. I had see. The play tracker thing on Twitter and they mentioned they use machine learning to estimate numbers so it’s not always accurate.

Bottom line: Good game with good player count.

@Fiendish-Beaver People who forget a brand new 2D Mario is set to release.

I was one of those guys. Bought the GP Premium upgrade, put in 10 hours and knowing I will put in a few hundred more I bought the game on Steam. This coupled with Star Citizen tick all the boxes for my space explorer dream I've had since Mass Effect. Thanks Bethesda!

@HonestHick Don't forget that game pass users that bought the premium edition upgrade also had early access so not every one of those 2 million players were paying $100. It was only on Steam where every player would have bought the premium edition.

@Kevw2006 true. But none the less a good showing before launch day and now launch day is showing great numbers. Xbox Series X hardware was up 1000% also. I am just trying to show that Xbox gamers do buy games even tho Sony fan’s say otherwise and this is a great start for Xbox to build some momentum. Forza is out in a month than COD. Then the big question mark is what does 2024 look like? If it’s good and can continue to have steady release’s, this could be the turnout the brand has been working on since leaving behind the Xbox One. Time will tell but SF did its job so far. Have to wait to see what follows.

@HonestHick 1000%!!! Dang. Should be interesting to see the VG charts for August.

@Fiendish-Beaver Yes BG3 had a higher player count than Starfield on steam as it was only availible on steam at the time. Hogwarts Legacy was availible on steam and PS5/Xbox and still had a higher cc player count than BG3 on steam alone without counting consoles - which is why i mentioned that yes technically Hogwarts Legacy has that crown but it a great achivement for all of them as single player games.

@Fiendish-Beaver of course - i’m just saying it’s my GOTY so far. I haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 yet so who knows, maybe that will de-throne it but at the moment Starfield is at the top spot.

@Kevw2006 Yes but you have to factor in that there are timezones, people who work - not everyone will be on the game at all hours of the day. To be the 2nd highest cc in players across platforms behind Hogwarts Legacy is a great achivement for a single player game.

@FatalBubbles yeah that was what was reported. How true it is and what the numbers look like i can not say in full. But the report said Series X was up 1000% on amazon. Here’s a link friend.

https://www.vg247.com/starfield-hype-drives-xbox-series-x-sales

@HonestHick Thank you. I’m curious what the 1000% is based on, timeframe wise. If it’s for the month they’re going to have sold millions of consoles in august.

@FatalBubbles The 1tb Series S just released too so there was likely people holding off and waiting for that to release and others that upgraded. Although I did notice that Series X was much more widely available on Amazon so MS probably ensured there was a large drop of stock in preparation for Starfield releasing.

@Kevw2006 Phil said at the showcase that consoles would become more available. Maybe this is a part of that. Not sure, the link i provided says series X up 1000%.

@FatalBubbles true, i am not sure. But the article states Series X so that could mean even more sales with the S. Time will tell. But all signs point to a massive month.

@HonestHick My bad, I was sure I read an article that said it was for both but you are indeed correct it is just the series X. However, on doing a bit of additional digging it seems that it is being slightly misreported as it isn't a 1,000% increase in units sold, it is that it has jumped up 1,000% on the sales rankings.

@HonestHick it depends what the original figure is of sales and timeframe.

Because say Amazon sold 10,000 this 1000% only actually multiplies sales by 10. So 100k (still awesome but there’s a lot of devil in the detail)

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I'd give it 10/10. Have had absolutely no issues with it and am enjoying it massively. This is exactly what I wanted Starfield to be.

@Kevw2006 oh ok, yeah thats why i said i am more in a wait and see what the month looks like vs whats being reported. I am sure console sales are up, but how much i am not sure at all. Honestly i am not much into which console sales the best, i am just happy to see it gain some momentum. Most of my favorite consoles never were the market leader in sales. 😀

@PsBoxSwitchOwner yeah i agree. Until i see the final numbers i take reports like these with a grain of salt. But i am happy to see them gaining some traction. We need good competition and a healthy industry.

@HonestHick definitely need a shot in the arm. I know this site doesn’t ever report on the sales slowing but they have been so hopefully this puts it in a positive direction

Microsoft should make a Starfield edition bundle for the holiday season. The new “wrap”, Starfield edition controller and a copy of the game. Seems like a no brainer, but at this point in the year it’s probably too late for manufacturing if they haven’t started already.

@Titntin
Ah, no worries mate, sorry I couldn't be more help.
The FOV could definitely be causing some issues, console games should really have that option by now.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner well i agree they need a shot in the arm. I don’t shy from them slipping in sales. I mean think about it, 2022 had nothing, 2023 was mainly Hi-Fi and smaller indie titles until SF. That won’t cut it when Xbox isn’t the biggest name in the business. Nintendo and Sony can get away with that, cause they sell on name alone. So they need to be aggressive in both idea’s and marketing. They need to continue to put out games that gamers want to play and i think they will. Now the question is will gamers show up for them and SF has so far answered that will a loud yes. Do they drop the ball from here or continue to build momentum is where my eyes will be heading into 2024.

@Echtzeit same here. Was immediately hooked last night and can’t wait to get back to it tonight