More data on Starfield's launch: 1 million concurrent players, most wishlisted Xbox game on Steam
Following the launch of Starfield, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has shared some data about the game across all platforms. It looks like a huge success for Xbox.
Spencer took to social media to announce that Starfield surpassed 1 million concurrent players at launch. This includes Steam and the Xbox ecosystem (console players, Microsoft Store, Game Pass, and the cloud).
“Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to the Bethesda Game Studios,” Spencer wrote on X (Twitter).
Starfield exceeded 1 million concurrent players across all platforms today. Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to the @BethesdaStudios https://t.co/5jFaCyPz4G
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 7, 2023
The share of each platform remains undisclosed, but Starfield peaked at 269,177 concurrent players on Steam (via SteamDB). The game is currently Bethesda’s third biggest launch on the platform in terms of peak CCU. It also ranks as the 4th Steam release of 2023 by this metric, behind Sons of the Forest (414k peak CCU), Baldur’s Gate 3 (875k), and Hogwarts Legacy (879k).
In an interview with CNBC, Spencer said Microsoft is seeing “huge demand” for Starfield, sharing more details about the game’s launch:
- The game attracted more players on Xbox Series X|S than any next-gen exclusive from Microsoft;
- It is the most wishlisted game on Steam developed by Xbox’s first-party studio;
- “Tens of millions of Game Pass subscribers were getting a chance to play Starfield” on September 6 (the exact number of subscribers who played the game is unclear).
On Steam, Starfield currently has a “Very Positive” rating, with 83% of the 22k user reviews being positive. It also received generally favorable reviews from critics, with an average score on Metacritic ranging from 86 (PC) to 87 (Xbox).
