The release of Bethesda’s Starfield is set to be one of the biggest dates in gamers’ calendars, promising all the immersion, intergalactic exploration and space battles that fans want. It might not have released yet, but fans are flocking to pre-orders with such speed that it’s outselling Larian Studios’ epic Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam – before it’s even out.
The Dungeons and Dragons-esque title has proved a resounding success for Larian, surpassing expectations in a remarkable and sustained manner. The developers apparently expected to sit around 100,000 concurrent players but, within days of its PC release, were regularly encountering player counts seven or eight times higher.
That makes the fact that Starfield is outselling it – and topping Steam’s US sales chart – ahead of its launch even more impressive.
Bethesda’s title has been hanging round the top five fastest selling titles in the US for a number of weeks but, ahead of its early September launch (the exact date of which depends on the version you’re playing) it’s surpassed BG3 and CS:GO to fly up to first place.
Its move to top spot also sees it pass Armored Core VI and Sea of Stars, both of which have received an exceptionally positive reception.
The player base were similarly stunned, with the news quickly reaching Reddit and provoking discussion.
One player joked that the launches of BG3 and Starfield are too much: “Honestly, it’s just so wonderful that we’ve got games like Starfield and BG3 coming out. My only real problem is not enough time to spend playing both… Truly a surfeit of gaming riches!”
We can only begin to imagine the heights it’ll go to when it’s fully released. It’s got around 565 weeks to go to topple CS:GO’s record time in the Steam top sellers chart.
We’ll see you in 2034 to let you know if it managed it. In the meantime, check out all the Starfield content in the related section below.
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