Starfield Is The Most Played RPG Of 2023 Despite Baldur’s Gate 3 Being The Most Acclaimed

There were a lot of great games released in 2023, but Baldur’s Gate 3 received huge acclaim from critics and players, and it can already be called the main project of the year, although the results are still being summed up. Most of the Game of the Year awards went to Baldur’s Gate 3, as did many of the Best RPG titles of the past year. But players seem to be spending more time in Starfield, which has been heavily criticized since its release.

[Lightning77]

Grants to Bethesda and SF.

[SyntheticForm]

Elder Scrolls 6 is their last chance.

[purple101]

just wait

[Markdn]

Erm starfield was given away free, bg3 was not.

[Einhander1972]

Starfield:: Mostly Negative (8,098)

Current Players: 13,487
30-Day Avg: 12,159.6

-663.3 -5.17%

all-time peak :330,597

Baldur's Gate 3: Overwhelmingly Positive (33,383)

Current Players: 224,236
30-Day Avg: 141,139.7

+9,331.9 +7.08%

all-time peak: 875,343

[Lightning77]

At this point I doubt anyone cares anymore. Still the most played lol.

[Christopher]

"No one cares about the negatives except those other games that are more liked, we only want to focus on the positives."

[shadowknight203]

What kind of fanboyism do you spew. The puke and regurgitate kind.

[Angyobangyo]

Seeing as you replied multiple times on this thread subject, obviously you "care". Quality over quantity, something XBots will never get accustomed to.

[Zeref]

It was mostly positive at first for Starfield and then some influencers said they didn't like it and then it started going negative lol.

It's the most blatant example of bandwagoning I've ever seen.

Nothing about the game changed since launch and all of a sudden people "hate" it?

[Einhander1972]

Do you think that's more or less impactful than Microsoft only giving review copies to review sites that would give them high scores?

Because, if you watched metacritic the score dropped significantly after the first wave of cherry picked reviews.

[Zeref]

@Einhander

I'm talking about the Steam reviews.

The metacritic is still at 83.

[Einhander1972]

I feel like you don't understand what I am saying.

Microsoft gave this game out to select sites to provide the initial reviews, which were very high mostly 9-10's then when more sites got the game we saw way more 7's and lower. So just like Steam the reviews started out inflated then dropped.

And the user score on Starfield is a 70 on metacritic. Which is questionable, since it was 63, but then metacritic removed the exact amount of negative reviews to push it back up to an exact 70.

[Crows90]

Absolutely false. At launch people said there are clear issues...most were overlooked because Bethesda but when players got their hands on it...yeah we didn't overlook that shit.

I asked a friend of mine who payed it before I did and all he could say was it is "alright/meh" mind you this guy was super excited and he was about to buy the PS5 for starfield! I told him about the Bethesda purchase and that it wouldn't be on PS5. Saved him regret and yet now I'm thinking he still has regret. Lol

[Christopher]

*** It's the most blatant example of bandwagoning I've ever seen. ***

As opposed to the initial bandwagoning by those same influencers who said they liked it at first?

[Petebloodyonion]

@Enhander
Get your facts straight man
Bethesda didn't give a single review code to any media in the UK, they didn't cherry-pick they denied all of them.
The ones that got to review the game were media (IGN for example) who asked for a code via the USA branch and provided it to the UK branch.

Now I'm sure that the media that got denied made a non-biased review of the game that in no shape or form illustrates their frustration of the situation because Media never does that (surely not IGN with Pray or Gamespot with Harry Potter).

[anast]

They played a bit longer and found out it wasn't a redeeming experience.

[poppatron]

Have you played it?

It isn’t terrible, and starts off quite well, but the cracks soon begin to show and minor annoyances that you looked over in the beginning soon overwhelm any good and after a while it’s an exercise in pure frustration. Just my opinion of course. I left it 20 hours in

[Hereandthere]

The game is trash that looks and runs like it was made for the xbox 360. Shame on the xbox twitter influencers spamming game of gen for that garbage.

[shinoff2183]

I don't think it was the influencers as you suggested. I think it's more people got more time with it. It wore off quick with me I only got 20 hours or so into it before I ditched it waiting for updates and whatnot. Call fanboy all you want but I didn't buy a series x to say I didn't like starfield. I wanted to love it like I do fallout. It's lacking in lore, exploration, and other areas and needed more time in development, and I'm convinced it was pushed out the door so xbox had something for the holiday.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Sheep mentality at its best is what I call it

[Grievous]

Steam shows unbiased numbers as everyone paid for it.

[Lightning77]

@Chris the game gets plenty of negativety. Article after article allot of it is just reaching at this point in fact that's all you see. Basically what you're saying is let's continue to focus on the negative and not even mention any of the positive. The little positive that That it has.

Yet the player counts go up and the engagement is up. That's why I said it doesn't really matter anymore. Negative or positive the game is still in the social loop and still played.

[shinoff2183]

I didn't see much positive though. People glamor about the ship building but I wasn't impressed. The game was cooking for 8 years (probably more inreality). It should not have released in such shape. Other bethsada games do what this game does but better. How is that possible? Again I think they will get it right eventually I was just hoping it was right from the beginning and I was let down.

[JackBNimble]

You're certainly on the hate campaign bandwagon.
Have you played it, do you own it or are you just another psfanboy?

Move on if it ain't for you, people will vote with their wallet.

[recoctimocassirnff]

I immediately called BS when I read the title.

Those steam stats really are really very telling.

[Chevalier]

Weird all Xbox fans do is point out engagement numbers, but, when someone brings up negative numbers according to those same people it's unimportant or no one cares.

[Terry_B]

Only because of gamepass lol

[Walalon]

Idk why you are being down voted because it's true... With Gamepass you can play Starfield, meanwhile with BG3 you have to paid(low for the awesome experience the game is) to play it. But of course, fanboys will always support MS, the company who call them if they are sick, hug them if they are sad or send you a gift when it's your birthday...

[Terry_B]

Its the same 5-10 xbox people here that downvote anything that might be negative when it comes to xbox. No matter if its a simple fact or not :-)

[InUrFoxHole]

Fanboys will always support MS.. You do realize your complaint is gamers are supporting a service that provides them with solid games and 1st party day 1 vs. Paying full price for a game? Lol that's hilarious 😂.

[CPTN MITCHELL]

Not only game pass but also a bag of Doritos will give you access to GlitchField

[Crows90]

I used that actually! 😂

[JackBNimble]

"Only because of gamepass"
But they're still playing it even with all the other games on GP.

It's easy to list the games we hate and give weak arguments why other people are playing them. Excuses for why game is doing better then we hoped for.

It's pretty sad really

[Lightning77]

Larian. Players had played 452,556,984 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3 by December 5, 2023.

Bethesda. Players had spent 534,823,944 hours playing Starfield by December 20, 2023.

It's in the article. Not like it matters, the salt will commence anyway.

[Neonridr]

I don't get why people care. Call of Duty puts in more hours each year than some amazing 1st party titles. Do people cry and stomp their feet? No.

But because it's Starfield, let the hate/excuses commence.

[dumahim]

Baldur's Gate info is a bit older now and there's over 10 times as many people, on average, playing on Steam than Starfield. BG3 is holding up while Starfield has been falling off. Not to mention BG3 since released on Xbox since those BG3 numbers. How do you think those numbers would look with current info?

[mrcatastropheAF]

The bulk of starfield players are probably playing through GP or on Xbox so idk why people keep referencing the steam stats as if they demonstrate the larger picture.

That being said, Starfield is chips. Love xbox and gamepass, but Starfield is chips

[dumahim]

@mrcatastropheAF

The Steam numbers are telling because those are all from people who paid for the game and have more incentive to have their money spent be worthwhile. Yes, the GP numbers will be higher due to no added cost, but there's even less incentive to keep playing there.

[itsmebryan]

You didn't add since BG3 is a muti platform and Starfield (which I'm still playing) is a Xbox console exclusive the numbers for Starfield are even more impressive. 😉

[Crows90]

Not when it's free

[MrNinosan]

BG3 just became a multiplatform, but when the stats is from before BG3 Xbox stats.

BG3 was available on PS5 and PC.
Starfield on Series S, Series X, PC and GamePass.

[ChasterMies]

What a piece of shit click bait title.

[Crows90]

Wait....so they gave starfield more days?

15 more days is a lot.

[porkChop]

No. Bruh, use your head. Starfield launched a month after BG3. So Starfield actually had less total days, even with that "extra" 15.

[Crows90]

@porckchop

I already thought of that. But it's irrelevant since bg3 had 3 different launches throughout platforms.

1st on PC then on PS5 and recently on Xbox.
So comparing a mixed release like that vs a free game on Xbox and pc is tough.

If they're going to say it has more playtime then pick a point in time and compare the 2...don't do some silly shenanigans to try to get your desired result.

[porkChop]

I think you misunderstood the article. They didn't cherry pick the data. They used the official stats released by Larian on Dec 5th and Bethesda on Dec 20th. Those are the most up-to-date stats, and they include all platforms.

[notachance]

hogwarts legacy had 400mil hours by March 23 so eh

[Angyobangyo]

Current steam concurrent data:

Starfield: 8,500 lol
BG3: 186, 000

Yes, let the salt commence.

[Lightning77]

Gee I'm so salty.

Doesn't change anything like I said nobody even cares anymore about Steam numbers high or low that's just one platform. still top 10 most played on Xbox still.

[Rimeskeem]

Probably helps that you don't need to pay $60

[Petebloodyonion]

Care to remind us how it's free to play on Steam?
but I agree that Gamepass sure help player base

[-Foxtrot]

But it’s more accessible to get thanks to Gamepass

I really think with Gamepass being a thing now these “X game was most played” or “highest number of players” articles need to take Gamepass into account, especially Microsoft. It’s kind of unfair to pit two games against each other when one has a slight advantage in how it’s obtained.

[Asplundh]

And BG3 is on more platforms, it's not a level playing field either way.

[Crows90]

One you have to pay 60 for and the other you can get for free

[MrNinosan]

It wasn't on more platforms when the data was made.

BG3 was on PS5/PC
Starfield on Series S/X/PC/GamePass

[Crows90]

Thkse articles exist only because of gamepass

[Sonic1881]

Starfield was one of the most boring rpg ever made. The companions and enemy AI was a joke. Don't believe me look at Angry Joe's video review

[dumahim]

And every time the game comes up since that review, he's said he was too kind on the game in his review and probably should have gotten an even lower score.

[itsmebryan]

Why trust someone else opinion try it yourself. What game were you expecting?

I went in with no explanations and once I got into the story and focused on the main story it really started to come together. For some doing all of the side missions can be overwhelming.

[Sonic1881]

I did try it myself on gamepass and couldn't get into it. I kept falling asleep on it. I decided to go back to Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty and Baldur's Gate 3. I had more fun playing No man sky than Starfield

[Armaggedon]

Biased Joe? Im good

[Elda]

Most are playing through GP.

[ocelot07]

Starfield has more hype plus it being on gamepass helped a lot. I subbed to gamepass for that month solely for starfield. I hated it but lucky enough I did play some gears 5 so it wasn't a complete waste of £5.

[Flenter]

Sure 😏......

[XBManiac]

1$ for a month... What a time to be alive!

[Stuart5756]

Yeh, and more people watched Jurassic World Dominion than The Whale, go figure.

[DazaMc]

25 million GamePass players can play it for essentially free. Baldur's Gate is £70. Doesn't take a genius to work that out.

[Barlos]

I think I paid £60for BG3 for PS5, and let me tell you the value for money is off the charts

[Barlos]

I think I paid £60 for BG3 for PS5, and let me tell you the value for money is off the charts.

[Barlos]

Honestly give it up. Most played doesn't suddenly make it a better game than it is.

[Vithar]

Starfield is a meme at this point, GG bethesda

[RhinoGamer88]

Having played Fallouts, for those playing Starfield like me, are you finding the combat too easy? I am level 23 and playing is hard...still not a challenge even with legendary enemies. I may need a bump to Very Hard. I had the same issue with Liberty City...too easy when playing as a level 40+ V.

[Lionsguard]

A game on Games Pass got played more? I'm shocked.

[mastershredder]

Marketing spew and membership access had nothing to do with that most played bit eh? I mean, Media cannot seem to shut up about it, but it certainly is cast into mediocrity by current standards on most accounts. Talk soup might be a popular menu item, but it does not digest well.

[EvertonFC]

aroged.com. 😂🤣

[Hofstaderman]

I still maintain a starving man will eat ANYTHING put in front of him.

[__y2jb]

I call bullshit. No way fewer gamepass players clocked more time on a worse game.

I simply do not trust Microsoft to report the truth.

[smolinsk]

I really just think so many gamers really wanted Starfield to be good and against all the hate stuck with the game despite it was a horrible game. The love for what Bethesda one's was has people hanging on.

[Aaroncls7]

Congrats, Bethesda!

[jjb1981]

It's the only thing Xbots had to play anyway. Of course it's going to have more hours played.

[anast]

1 mil people turned on our game and left after 5 minutes...this isn't a good stat.

[OneLove]

At the time BG3 was PS/PC but considering the xbox player base, it's still impressive.

[jznrpg]

I trust MS numbers like I trust the word of a pathological liar.

Also, we don’t know how many xbox/MS accounts were banned for taking nude screenshots in BG3 heh.

[Hereandthere]

most are just loading the game up and leaving it on for hours without playing it.

[InUrFoxHole]

Congrats to SF!

[DynDasE]

Press F to doubt.
Anyhow, spending countless hours in a bad game is a torture though.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I'd pick Starfield over Baldurs Gate any day. I'm not saying BG is bad or anything. Brilliant game but it's not for me.

[cammers1995]

Meanwhile I'm over here on steam deck playing the much better hogwarts legacy and fallout new vegas.

Starfield is horrible.

[Armaggedon]

Starfield is GOAT

[Armaggedon]

Its crazy how people are going to war over these two games. All it is collecive opinion. Baldurs Gate has something that more people like over Starfield, doesn’t necessarily make it better.