What did Microsoft want from Starfield? | Opinion

6 months 1 week ago

Not that there was ever really much doubt, but we now have the numbers to confirm it: Xbox Series finally has a huge exclusive hit on its hands.

Bethesda's Starfield has topped the US sales charts for September, sliding into the top ten for the year thus far in the process. Everyone knew that Starfield would be a success, but commercial performance on this scale was never a given. Bethesda games generally do well, but are not guaranteed chart-toppers, with their numbers only getting truly impressive when you look at the long tail performance.

It remains to be seen if Starfield will have the kind of long tail seen with some of Bethesda's other games – the comparison that will most likely be trotted out in the coming months and years is Skyrim, though demanding any company to find a way to bottle the lightning that turned Skyrim into an industry phenomenon is a pretty huge ask.

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Author
Rob Fahey