Summary
Just over five years since the title’s reveal and initial trailer at E3 2018, this September saw the long-awaited release of Bethesda’sStarfield. As one would expect, the title quickly shot to the top of Steam and Xbox sales charts, becoming the fastest-selling title in Bethesda’s history. Despite a mostly sterling critical reception, however, user reviews of the title have since cooled, bringing into question howStarfieldmight fare in the upcoming Game of the Year race in what has been potentially the most-packed release year in history. Unfortunately, it would appear thatStarfieldis yet another victim of 2023’s absolutely stacked release schedule.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw the delay of several noteworthy titles months or even years past their planned release dates, and as the industry has continued to catch up, gamers are continually presented with a veritable onslaught of games.
Now that the cadence of game releases is perpetually providing players with a new quality game nearly every week, it has led to2023 being one of the best years in gamingbased on sales data alone. The sheer number of incredible games that 2023 brought to players is astounding, and in a year with a newZeldagame, a newFinal Fantasy,and sequels fans have waited more than a decade for,Starfieldbecomes a cautionary tale about release timing and reliance on familiarity.
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How Starfield Stacks Up Against The Competition
The first obstacle standing in the way ofStarfield’s Game of the Year candidacy is the sheer number of incredible games that are its direct competition for this year’s top honors. Dating all the way back to January and even up through December, there are no less than 2 games releasing almost every month that are surefire Game of the Year contenders, as well as several others that will surely get nominated for other various categories. To seehowStarfieldmight farewhen placed side-by-side with the likes ofZelda: Tears of the KingdomorBaldur’s Gate 3, one useful metric is each game’s critic and user aggregate score, as well as their Steam scores if applicable.
89%
88%
84%
85%
87%
93%
79%
64%
96%
83%
92%
70%
86%
21%
81%
90%
80%
69%
82%
74%
91%
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Starfield’s Reception From Fans and Reliance on Familiar Mechanics Rule it Out
One of the most pertinent criticisms lobbied atStarfieldin the wake of its release and reception from fans was its reliance on mechanics that Bethesda has been using in its games for more than a decade. The promise ofFallout 3orSkyrimin space was appealing to fans around the time of the game’s announcement, but the intervening years (and, truthfully, the early months of 2023 leading up toStarfield’s release) cemented that a game could not attempt to stand out in 2023 by relying too heavily on what players had come to enjoy before.Starfielddoes introduce some new tricksto the playbook, but not nearly in the same seismic way thatTears of the KingdomorBaldur’s Gate 3redefine their respective genres going forward.
Beyond its leaning too heavily on what might have worked in the past, fan reception ofStarfieldhas undeniably shifted in the wake of its release. As players spend more and more time and find theircontinued engagement withStarfieldto be less rewarding than other games, it continues to move the needle in terms of what nominees players might see at the 2023 Game Awards.Starfieldis absolutely a quality release, but in a year like 2023 simply being “good” isn’t enough to win the year’s top honors.
Starfield
WHERE TO PLAY
Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
