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Starfield enjoyed an unprecedented amount of hype in the run-up to launch, but just two months after its arrival, its player numbers are surprisingly low.
According to Steam DB, it's currently hitting around 30,000 concurrent players per day on Steam and, at the time of writing, is nestled in at number 44 on the platform's most played chart. That puts it just above Final Fantasy 14 and below Monster Hunter: World. At launch, Starfield managed a peak of 330,723 concurrent players on Steam and over one million across all platforms. Amazingly, despite its age, Skyrim is hanging in there at number 60 with a high of 23,071 players in the past 24 hours.
As users on the Starfield subreddit point out, the rate at which player numbers are dwindling is faster for Starfield than it's been for Bethesda's other offerings, including Skyrim and Fallout 4, and they have plenty of reasons as to why that is.
According to AggressiveYoghurt, there's not much incentive to start again once you've reached the credits. "The game just doesn't have the replayability of other AAA titles in the same category," they say, "because there are no meaningful builds and no real options to choose another path."
Others, such as supa74, struggled to get into it even on the first playthrough. "I love Bethesda games," they write, adding that they "couldn't get past hour 20 with this one" due to "the constant loading, PG-rated storylines" and "graphical inconsistencies."
Of course, these numbers are by no means bad. They simply pale in comparison to the standards set by Skyrim and Fallout. Let's also not forget that Starfield launched during one of the busiest release periods we've ever seen in games.
On top of that, a steady supply of updates and fixes would no doubt draw many back to Starfield, giving those player numbers a boost. "I'm definitely waiting for some QOL updates before playing my first NG+," says Wyzzlex. Many are also keen to see official mod support added. "Creation Kit waiter here," writes one Starfield player. "Can't wait for the mods to get more advanced once that releases".
Others are eager to delve into the space-based RPG when DLSS support arrives. "I'm waiting for the DLSS update...and then I'll join the crew!" says farmecologist, and they don't have long to wait as Bethesda recently announced that DLSS support is being rolled out in a test update this week.
"What we should really be getting are updates that give us content that actually add to and improve the game," says Starfield fan theoriginalmofocus. "They want this game to last 10 years? Please do updates so that every so often it gets better and better."
For more space-based adventures, check out our guide to games like Starfield.
