Phil Spencer Wanted Starfield to Last for 12 Years Like Skyrim but Its Numbers Don’t Look Too Good

While the entire Elder Scrolls franchise has been a staple in the RPG genre for decades at this point, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is easily the most popular entry in the series, garnering numerous versions and consistently high player counts.

When Starfield debuted, Bethesda and Todd Howard stated that it’s basically a space Skyrim that’s the studio’s best project ever. Even Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was super confident that the franchise could match and even surpass the Elder Scrolls game in terms of longevity.

However, things don’t look good for Starfield, as its numbers are falling to record lows.

Starfield‘s future is all dark and gloom

Starfield was initially revealed all the way back in 2018, and Todd Howard promised that it would usher in a new era for Bethesda going forward.

Although Starfield isn’t a terrible game, its response has been quite mixed since launch. While some gamers enjoyed the space RPG’s dialogue, story, and universe, the majority weren’t happy with the title’s outdated features, bland combat, and just tons of loading screens.

Right after the same’s launch, its player base took a hit and started dropping. Bethesda hoped that the game’s Shattered Space DLC, which debuted in 2024, would be able to inject a new life into the title. However, that DLC proved to be another fault, as its $30 price tag wasn’t worth what it brought to the table.

According to Steam DB, Starfield had an all-time peak of 330,597, but at the time of writing, the game had an active player count of just 5,187 and a 24-hour peak of just 6,314. While you might think that it’s still better than games such as Suicide Squad: Kill The Just League, let’s not forget the fact that Bethesda stated that this game was supposed to rival Skyrim.

Currently, Skyrim has an active player count of 28,722, with a 24-hour peak of 34,569. This is despite the fact that it’s been more than a decade since Bethesda released this Elder Scrolls title. Even Starfield‘s competitors in the RPG genre, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, are doing a hundred times better.

What’s worse is that Bethesda doesn’t even acknowledge the faults that led to the downfall of the game. Despite the terrible reception, its development team is proud of what it has made and plans to stick to the same approach for the next games.

Bethesda has moved on from Starfield

With Shattered Spaced DLC, Bethesda wanted to pull off a Cyberpunk 2077-level comeback. However, we all know how that turned out to be, as it damaged the game’s reputation even further.

So, will Bethesda fix Starfield with more updates in the future? Well, it’s unlikely, as it’s confirmed that the studio has now started working on Elder Scrolls 6. While we might see small updates here and there fixing issues, there’s no guarantee that there will be another huge expansion coming.

However, according to Bruce Nesmith, ex-Bethesda designer, there’s a high chance that a sequel for the sci-fi game might happen down the line. Considering Bethesda’s current development periods and the range of games it has to work on; this potential sequel might not see the light of day until 2035.

It’s quite sad to see how Bethesda has treated Todd Howard’s dream project. Let’s hope the studio realizes its mistakes and makes amends with its next project; otherwise, it’s in serious trouble.

With that said, do you think Starfield can still be saved? Let us know in the comments below.

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire