Hardly anyone would’ve been surprised to learn that Starfield was the best-selling game in the US for September. To add to that, not only has Bethesda’s newest release been played by more than 11 million people so far, it’s also been a major achievement for Game Pass.
That’s according to a recent Microsoft earnings call, which took place on October 24. Among a bunch of other wins for the tech giant, Starfield has done wonders for the Xbox subscription service. According to the transcript (or you could listen to the whole audio if you prefer), the deep space adventure set a new record for the “most Game Pass subscriptions added on a single day ever.”
Among the 11 million people that have taken to the stars, almost half of them played the game on PC. The transcript goes on to say that Starfield‘s launch has “benefited Xbox content and services.”
The rich get richer
In gaming overall, Microsoft has said that revenue has “increased 9% and 8% in constant currency” with a “better-than-expected subscriber growth in Xbox Game Pass.” No prizes for guessing which game is pretty much responsible for this uptick (no, not Redfall. Why would you say that?).
The hype behind Starfield was pretty immense for what felt like a long time. Given that it’s Bethesda’s first game since Microsoft bought the company in 2021, Xbox put its muscle behind the space-faring RPG.
Many of us might be losing a bit of interest in the game now, but the revenue and player count show just how popular Skyrim-in-space has been. But will it last as long as The Elder Scrolls 5? Only time will tell (I say no).
Published: Oct 25, 2023 10:22 am