Summary
Even thoughStarfieldhas undoubtedly been a huge success for Bethesda, currently, it is also the lowest-rated Bethesda game of all time on Steam. There are plenty of things to enjoy aboutStarfield, from its ship builder to its gunplay, but not every player expectation was met when it launched in September.Exploration inStarfield, be it space travel or roaming the randomly-generated planets, left a lot to be desired for fans who expected something closer toNo Man’s SkyorStar Citizen.
A worrying trend in modern gaming,Starfieldwas also review-bombedshortly after launch, which further muddled the perception of how well the game was received by the community. Some content creators found it an addictive experience, as befits a Bethesda sandbox, while others saw it as outdated or buggy. Ultimately, social media perception mostly skewed positive forStarfield, but with some important criticisms levied against the game.
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Starfieldhas now fallen belowFallout 76to become Bethesda’s lowest-rated game on Steam. With a review rating of 71.37%, it trails behindFallout 76’s rating of 71.76%. While some may be quick to declareStarfield’s rating a worrisome trend for Bethesda Game Studios, it should be remembered thatFallout 76had a far worse launch compared toStarfield, and it took a multi-year effort from its development team to redeemFallout 76in the eyes of the community and unlock the game’s full potential.
Compared toFallout 76,Starfieldhas a much higher floor – and by the same virtue – a much higher ceiling. Given its nature as a single-player game, a lot of its shortcomings may end up fixed through mods onceofficial modding tools forStarfieldreleasein early 2024. Despite the review rating on Steam being lower than other Bethesda releases,Starfieldremains one of the platform’s most popular titles, easily having over a hundred thousand players on a daily basis.
Currently, the highest rated Bethesda games on Steam belongThe Elder Scrollsfranchise, withMorrowind,Oblivion, andSkyrimall enjoying an overwhelmingly positive 93% review rating. That being said, even if exploring the Settled Systems isn’t as perfect as fans hoped, the numbers imply thatStarfieldis still an entertaining game. With betterStarfieldmods, as well as official content packs such as theupcoming Shattered Space expansion, players should expect the latest Bethesda title to trend up in the future.
Starfieldis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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