“Starfield” was released just over two months ago on PC and Xbox. However, despite a strong start that made it the “biggest Bethesda game launch” of all time, the situation has somewhat diminished. In fact, currently, there are more players on Steam engaged in Bethesda’s earlier RPG game, “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” than in “Starfield.”
As of now, 1610 Steam users are playing the 2011 release of “Skyrim,” and 13,776 are playing the 2016 “Special Edition” release. This adds up to a total of 15,386 Skyrim players at the moment.
The combined 24-hour peak for both “Skyrim” releases is 25,181 players. If we include VR players, this number is even higher.
In contrast, Bethesda’s recently released “Starfield” currently has 11,563 astronauts exploring its many stars and planets. Meanwhile, its 24-hour peak is 23,920.
“Starfield” has an all-time Steam peak, since the game’s release, of 330,723 players, higher than any version of “Skyrim.” Despite this fact and the previous achievement of beating “Skyrim’s” concurrent player record on Steam, you can observe a dip in “Starfield’s” lifetime player count in the graph below.
It’s worth noting that numbers on Xbox consoles and Game Pass may present a different picture. Nevertheless, the difference between the two games on Steam remains remarkable, especially considering the recent release of “Starfield” compared to the earlier release of “Skyrim.”
Earlier this week, The Game Awards announced its nominees for the year, with “Starfield” notably absent from most categories. In fact, it only received one nomination across the board, that of Best RPG. Here, it competes against other big releases, including “Baldur’s Gate 3” and “Final Fantasy 16.”
For more information on “Starfield,” Liv Ngan recently spoke with a group of modders trying to fix the game—something Bethesda isn’t making all that easy to do.
If you’re more interested in “The Elder Scrolls” series, unfortunately, I can’t provide much. Bethesda may have confirmed that “The Elder Scrolls 6” is indeed in development, but apparently, the studio announced it when it did because of fan demand. Or, in the words of Skyrim’s lead designer Bruce Nesmith, it was announced because “the pitchforks and torches were out.”
It’s fair to say it will probably be a while before we hear anything more about how “The Elder Scrolls 6” is progressing.