Fans of a certain Japanese plastic box isn’t worth entertaining anymore, they alway have something to say( often negative) when something related to the green box get mentioned. They attack anyone associated with it from games( like Starfield), Phil Spencer, hell even Jez lol. But if its from that certain company, they will eat it up like the “we believe in generations” crap.
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We believe in generations (current gen bad)
We have to think of the children (cross-play bad)
Who wants to play old games? (back compat bad)
Until it wasn’t… These cultists will parrot anything from the clergy and turn around quicker than an IGN clickbait headline gets posted when a change is mandated.
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I’m not going to lie, I expected way more than 12 million by this point.
Not dooming and glooming at all, it obviously did the most important thing that Xbox is looking for which is player retention considering it hasn’t left the top 10 most played yet despite being a single player game.
I think I just personally underestimated how many players are still on Xbox One that haven’t made the leap to XS.
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I think we should acknowledge that, while Starfield’s performance is far from being a failure/bomb/ something to be ashamed of…etc, it could have done far better if it had better reception in both the media and players. I think its not a bad game but certainly let a lot to be desired (dont kill me guys!).
I reckon those numbers are “ok” for what the game ended up being and I ask Bethesda from the bottom of my heart to support the game as possible as needed. There’s something really special there and I would really like Starfield to have “Cyberpunk 2.0” types of comebacks and becoming soo good that we can see it nominated as “best on-ongoing game” (like the aforementioned game) in future years.
What we all can agree on is in how the game is weirdly being hated just by existing. Seriously, I dont think it even came to this absurdity with FFXVI.
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I was expecting 15 million tbh. However, we have to look at Forza Horizon 5 which took 70 days to reach 15 million, so I think it lines up. Also, we have to look that Starfield is current gen only and PC while Forza was crossgen and took 70 days to reach 15million users.
I do feel the legs of the game on PC was hurt due to the discourse tbh, but I don’t think it heavily impacted console version of the game. I think it will see an increase once there are more mods and the DLC
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Starfield is a new IP. Forza Horizon is a known and way more popular IP. It was also released when everyone had to stay home.
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The industry is going to be heavily influenced by AI precisely because journalism has shifted towards clickbait and simply pushing numbers. Why do you need a human to create an article that says “10 is lower than 20” or “game sucks” with just a bunch of filler nonsense in the body than no one even reads? Journalists are partially to blame here. Yeah I get you need a paycheck and to listen to the boss, but you’ve got to know if your job is to create trash that requires no skill from yourself, your time is numbered. You can’t be shocked when you are replaced by a glorified script putting shocking sounding words together.
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For sure, was just doing a comparison and Forza Horizon being crossgen gave it more potential consumers. Also, this is not even a jab at Starfield because being compared to one of the most popular franchise is huge. Starfield being only 3million off of Forza Horizon 5 is still a major thing when you put things into perspective like release date, current gen only, new ip, etc.
Forza Horizon is also very popular in the kids/family segment. Doubt that’s much of an audience Starfield taps into.
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Agreed, I expected at least 15 million. However considering it’s a new IP that’s next gen only it’s still doing well. As you mentioned it’s particularly doing well on console.
But frankly, the way the conversation turned around the game made the player count drop off a cliff imo. Generally it’s how games are spoken about, but doubles because it’s Xbox, you have people walking around who think Starfield is a legitimately bad game.
As much as the press and holier-than-thou personalities will try to downplay it, conversations effect performance. And the conversation about Xbox is always negative. Things can’t just be critiqued reasonably, their games have to be the worst. Terrible. Even mainstream YouTube outlets like SkillUp seem desperate to talk shit even though he hasn’t played the game. I’m expecting a big review to go up one day with his opinion already coloured saying ‘I don’t recommend Starfield’ and it’s going to even further entrench opinions that launch window reviews were wrong and were all paid off.
Remember, opinions like Gene Parks 5/5 is paid off, but it’s a completely unreasonable to suggest that outlets flirt with negative Xbox headlines because it gets more traffic; despite Google analytics showing exactly that.
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The reason for the hate and discourse is because Starfield is a HUGE AAA single player Xbox exclusive that didn’t release on PlayStation and never will. It’s the kind of game that makes the Xbox unmissable. It’s also the first major AAA game that the PlayStation fan base would’ve gotten had Microsoft not have purchased Bethesda. Sony fans aremt used to that kind of treatment. It’s never happened to them before. People are extra critical of it now because of that treatment.
It’s similar to a spoiled brat being told “NO!” for the first time in its life. And frankly, with the way things are set up now, it’s going to keep happening. The reality of the new Microsoft position hasn’t set in yet. There’s A LOT of Xbox heavy hitters on the way that won’t hit PlayStation anymore and never will. Believe me, this whole thing is just getting started.
To me personally, Starfield is a groundbreaking game. I’ve never played anything quite like it. I’ve NEVER came back to a game over and over for this long, and I’ve only just scratched the surface after a whole three months. And it’ll probably remain that way for longer than that. Had it hit PlayStation as well, many, many others would be saying the same thing and most gamers wouldn’t be so critical of it.
I’ve said before; there’s a stark difference to knowing that Microsoft has great developers and games now, to actually witnessing: MICROSOFT HAS GREAT DEVELOPERS AND GAMES NOW. Starfield was the first major FAFO game. Starfield is a GREAT game. Not just a good game. IT’S GREAT! At least a 9.2 , and one of those type games that define an era in gaming.
If you disagree, just look at the amount of discourse around it and for how long. Look at the games that are compared to it almost daily to try and dethrone it. Some of the comparisons are absolutely ludicrous. The whole thing is unprecedented. That is not hyperbole.
(not to take anything away from HiFi Rush or any others)
That said though, once the green machine is hitting on all cylinders with the game releases, I suspect much more discourse until the spoiled brat finally realizes that this new environment will keep saying no, until it adjusts to this new world we live in now. It’ll get worse before it gets better. But it will get better. Microsoft just has to stay committed. And I believe they will.
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lol comparing this game to release Cyberpunk 2077 is crazy. Also expect all “big” Xbox games to get this treatment (Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade 2, Gears, Avowed, Indy etc.)
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I feel exactly the same. It’s 3 months in, I’ve got 360ish hours logged, and I think I’m maybe halfway through the main quest? I’ve only done one faction. And there’s SO much to do, with such incredible variety.
Just yesterday I stumbled upon the Juno encounter, which was great and very sci-fi, and The Pale Lady, which was creepy AF, and then the Reliant Medical Organics Lab on Beta Ternion I, which was pretty intense and action packed with a vibe straight out of Aliens.
And that’s all in one session! And all just randomly discovered, not even through overheard conversations or anything.
When real people (non-fanboys I mean) criticize this game for it’s lack of exploration I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. I’ve seen some comments, elsewhere and by regulars on this very site, that makes me wonder if we’re even playing the same game.
It’s one thing for the sour grapes people to have negative things to say about this game, or when Xbox fans who usually don’t play this type of game aren’t into it… but when legit Bethesda fans come away lukewarm on it? I’m baffled. I straight-up don’t understand.
The sheer variety in this game should mean that almost anyone can find something to love. But maybe that’s the problem? It’s so fantastically huge that people get overwhelmed? I don’t know man… 
What I do know is that for my money, Starfield is a stone-cold masterpiece, my favourite game of all time, and it’ll probably be the first game I’ll ever hit 1000 hours in.
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The comparison to Cyberpunk is classic gaming chat.
Y = game that releases in a very poor technical state. This is disappointing for many, as the game has many good qualities despite this. X = game that releases in a great technical state, but has some poorer qualities that are disappointing for some.
In gaming language, this becomes X = Y, because both have disappointing elements. The fact that Cyberpunk got pulled from PSN is somehow immaterial when compared to Starfield’s disappointment, which is ‘there are more loading screens than I’d like’. Cyberpunk’s ‘turn around’ then becomes a trajectory for Starfield to follow, but the differences, qualities and problems of each game are substantially different, the former model makes no sense for the latter.
They merge into one general story, and everyone nods their heads as if it it’s true.
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Copy that! I hit this planet yesterday that was volcanic. While I was exploring there were these huge BOOMS that shook the ground. I thought I was losing it for a minute until it kept happening randomly. It felt like something big was coming. I got my ass back on my ship and left. Starfield is legit.
Much of the discourse, I believe, is in bad faith. It has some glitches here and there, may crash every now and again, might even have some repetitive missions but it’s still a fantastical game that deserves WAY more respect than it’s received. No game is perfect. Even other 9/10 games have their flaws but it doesn’t make them any less enjoyable.
Starfield is definitely Xbox Zelda franchise. I hope I’m alive when the sequel releases.
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It’s going to be interesting to see the hate Oblivion and Fallout 3 remaster will get if it’s Xbox and PC only. I feel it’s going to get ugly with people saying those games aged poorly or some other nonsense
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Nah it’ll be revisionist history. They’re hardly perfect and I’m sure they haven’t aged great but people will be crawling out of the woodwork to pretend they were never good in the first place.
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Think it was going to get hate either way if it wasn’t a remake.
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I saw a kotaku Australia article about how Xbox “is running out of time”.
I skimmed through the first half of the article and it was just getting really dumb and I didn’t want to waste my time but it, unintentionally, spells out the “Xbox Tax” concept wonderfully.
That certain games, no matter how much joy they bring or how fun they are, are not worth paying attention to. That games need to win GOTY awards to be considered something of value. That games need to be narrative experiences to be considered quality games.
This constrained view of the gaming industry in where games like Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite are played by millions and millions people around the world and wouldn’t fit into their definition of worthy experiences is exactly why the modern gaming media is completely out of touch with the industry.
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Pretty much the gaming industry is now divided into two
Sony VS Everyone else
Everyone outside of Sony is changing and evolving in the industry. Sony and Sony fans are stuck in the past where Sad dad walking sims are the only legit Gaming Genre and the media caters to them. Different rules and judgments are applied to Sony then everyone else.
At some point this split in gaming will be even more apparent.
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