Starfield Surpasses One Million Players as Early Access Period Ends

Starfield officially exited its early access phase on September 6 and achieved an impressive milestone, amassing over one million players across all platforms, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

As GamesRadar+ reported, Spencer took to Twitter to share the news: “Starfield exceeded one million concurrent players across all platforms today. Thanks to all the players who helped us reach this great milestone and congrats to [Bethesda Game Studios].”

Although Spencer did not provide specifics on the most popular platforms for playing Starfield, data from SteamDB reveals that the game reached an all-time peak of 269,177 concurrent players on Steam alone, around 3pm ET on release day. This suggests that the remaining players were either on Xbox Series X|S or utilizing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s cloud streaming service.

The immense popularity of Starfield comes as no surprise, given its status as one of the most highly anticipated games in recent years. Additionally, its availability on Xbox Game Pass eliminates any additional cost for subscribers, making it even more accessible.

TechRadar Gaming’s editor in chief, Jake Tucker, awarded Starfield a commendable four out of five stars in his review. While he praised the starship combat and skill system, he did acknowledge the game’s flaws, stating, “I’ve enjoyed the time that I’ve spent with the game, and I fully expect scores and scores of people to be playing this for years. There’s so much here for willing captains who want to explore every different station, survey and map out every world. For me, I’ll be left looking up from the ground, wondering if a more interesting version of the game is out there in the stars somewhere.”

If you’re gearing up to embark on your own Starfield adventure, be sure to check out our list of the best Xbox controllers to enhance your gameplay experience. Alternatively, explore our recommendations for the best open-world games on PC.