10 Great Video Games Everybody Just Stopped Playing

2. Starfield

starfield drop
Bethesda

Love it, hate it, or find it thoroughly "okay," Starfield was unquestionably one of 2023's most anticipated games, and unsurprisingly performed extremely well upon launch.

Within days of release, Bethesda's sci-fi RPG peaked with 330,723 concurrent players, easily surpassing Skyrim's all-time peak of 287,411. 

And while it was expected that the game would keep players engaged long-term as per their prior titles, that didn't quite pan out.

Even with rock solid reviews and plenty of praise for its immersive qualities, Starfield's world and characters simply didn't retain players like the studio's very best titles, with the Steam player count falling off a cliff in the weeks after launch.

By this past February, less than six months after release, Starfield's concurrent player count had dropped under 9,000, marking a devastating 97% drop from its peak.

To rub salt in the wound, Skyrim's player count still hovers around 30,000 well over a decade after launch, indicating that for all of its achievements, Starfield simply lacked the expected Bethesda magic which translates into long-term staying power.

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.