Starfield received high ratings from critics, with an online player count of 230,000

Early access to Starfield has begun. This new game from Bethesda quickly entered the top five games of the year on Steam based on online player count.

According to SteamDB, just 2 hours after the early access launch, over 230,000 Steam users were playing Starfield. It's worth noting that these 230,000 players own the Premium or Collection Edition, priced above 100 euros, and in the case of Constellation, even 300 euros. This number might significantly increase when the full release occurs on September 6.

Image credit: SteamDB 

Starfield made it to the list of the most popular games on Steam released in 2023:

Image credit: OpenCritic 

Not only players but also critics loved the game. On OpenCritic, it has an average score of 88 out of 100. Over 90% of journalists recommended Starfield.

Modders are also active. Even before the full game release, they are planning a patch for the RPG that will simplify the gameplay. Nexusmods announced that a community patch for Starfield is in development to address any issues.

The fixes included in the patch aim to correct errors in the base game. Nexusmods listed examples such as:

The patch won't add new quests, missions, or weapons. It's focused on the overall gameplay experience. You can read more about it here.

Digital Foundry decided to test Starfield on consoles. To start off, the team was pleased and even uploaded a game testing video done by Oliver Mackenzie.

The author said the game runs smoothly on both devices. In 20 hours, he didn't face any major issues. He noted that this RPG has fewer technical problems than Skyrim or Fallout 4.

The expert described the game's graphics as "excellent," praising the high detail level, post-processing, and environment elements. However, he didn't like the frequent loading screens when entering locations, finding them annoying.

Both on Series S and Series X, the space RPG looks great. But there are slight differences between versions. The draw distance on the "younger" model is shorter. But big trees and rocks look almost the same on both consoles.

Image credit: Steam

The reviewer noticed that on both Series S and Series X, some landscape details change every time Starfield is launched. Also, sometimes the shadows on the "younger" Xbox model look worse than on the "older" one.

The most significant difference Digital Foundry noticed was in the quality of the cube maps, which apparently render in real-time. On Series S, they have a very low resolution, while on Series X, it's about four times higher. Overall, the author was satisfied with AMD's technology implementation, noting that Starfield looks good on both platforms.

The game usually maintains a stable 30 fps. Performance issues mostly occur in two big cities — New Atlantis and Akile.

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In conclusion, the expert said Starfield is Bethesda's most refined release. He highly appreciated the technical aspect, which he called an "impressive achievement" for the team.

The game was also tested on PC. For 60 fps with high graphics settings without FSR in the city of New Atlantis, you need an RTX 3080 or RX 6950 XT. The game has few bugs, and even in 4K resolution, Starfield doesn't use more than 8 GB of video memory.

Image credit: express.co.uk

Starfield looks good even on "medium-low" graphics settings. To boost performance, many settings can be reduced.

Different bloggers have started to release game reviews, critics are sharing their opinions and giving ratings, and players are eager to share their thoughts on the game. Todd Howard also stepped in to thank the fans for their support.

Image credit: Reddit

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