Starfield has less players than Skyrim on Steam just two months after release

Ever since Starfield was announced in 2018, hype for the role-playing sci-fi game has been immense but as soon as it was released, that excitement seemed to deflate like a balloon.

Despite what Microsoft would’ve been hoping, the Xbox exclusive doesn’t seem to have had a significant effect on console sales, with the Xbox Series X/S coming last in US sales charts in October.

To add insult to injury, more people on Steam are playing Bethesda’s much older game The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim than Starfield. Although in a way, that may hint at a future redemption for the sci-fi game.

Right now, 20,628 people are playing either Skyrim’s original 2011 release or its 2016 Special Edition, while only 16,438 are exploring space in Starfield.

Starfield is currently number 67 in the Steam charts, just above the the 13-year-old Civilization 5. At the same time, contemporary Baldur’s Gate 3 is still in the top 10.

On the first Sunday after launch, the concurrent player record for Starfield was 330,723, which had fallen to just 37,429 by last Sunday.