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Starfield Has Been Played by 13 Million Players | Average Playtime per Player is 40 Hours

King Dazzar

Member
The extremes in the data are limited and the sample size is big so it cannot be skewed too much. The maximum hours anyone could put in is about 2500, and that's if they had the game running 24 hours a day, every day since launch.
I disagree. Or at least my idea of extremes differs from yours. That 13 million for example could be made up of 3 million playing 157hrs and 10 million only playing 5 hrs. That would read completely differently from saying all 13million played 40hrs. That's my point.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
I think some people here have spent way more than 40 hours defending or trashing the game. Now that's engagement.

I'm glad they're finally committing to fix the game after spending months pretending there was nothing wrong. Hopefully it will be enough to pull me back in. I got about 30-40 hours of playtime but stopped playing because it was frustrating.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
I think some people here have spent way more than 40 hours defending or trashing the game.

John Candy Stripes GIF by hero0fwar
 

Scotty W

Banned
Accept it chuds, Starfield is loved! So many people are playing it so much. It is really popular, and it wouldn’t be so popular if it wasn’t great. And it IS great. Those reviews were wrong. It is fun. Why fight the truth? Your doubt and condescension are risible, and are the product of insecurity. Me and 13 million other champions know that Starfield is lived AND great.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Accept it chuds, Starfield is loved! So many people are playing it so much. It is really popular, and it wouldn’t be so popular if it wasn’t great. And it IS great. Those reviews were wrong. It is fun. Why fight the truth? Your doubt and condescension are risible, and are the product of insecurity. Me and 13 million other champions know that Starfield is lived AND great.



todd-howard-fallout.gif




As gothmog gothmog put it, the average discussion time about Starfield on GAF is also 40 hours.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I disagree. Or at least my idea of extremes differs from yours. That 13 million for example could be made up of 3 million playing 157hrs and 10 million only playing 5 hrs. That would read completely differently from saying all 13million played 40hrs. That's my point.
I played less than 10 hours so I understand what you are saying but anyway you mix up the number to get a 40 hour average comes our as very impressive.
 

BigLee74

Member
Right....if Starfield were PlayStation exclusive then we would see the exact same arguments made about the reviews, the loading screens, the empty worlds, the number of hours played, whatever......every single negative argument made would be coming Xbox fans. That's just the reality.

Posts on a forum are not drowned out. And the negative posts are often the loudest of all regardless of how much praise accompany them.

Not to the extent that you see it now. Whilst there are a few that would dump on the game, most green rats are quite happy to stay in their own Xbox threads and not shit up the whole forum endlessly for cheap digs at the opposition.

I think 😂
 

King Dazzar

Member
I played less than 10 hours so I understand what you are saying but anyway you mix up the number to get a 40 hour average comes our as very impressive.
I dont know how it compares to be honest with other large rpg games. But I'm sure many people only have time to play games in general for a couple of hours a week. So it certainly got some good playtime.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
Not to the extent that you see it now. Whilst there are a few that would dump on the game, most green rats are quite happy to stay in their own Xbox threads and not shit up the whole forum endlessly for cheap digs at the opposition.

I think 😂

Probably because you are one of the good ones and don't concern yourself with games you don't care about. But I assure you.....there are plenty of green rats in PS threads taking cheap shots. Every. Single. Time. It is what it is.
 
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soulbait

Member
I care because I’m curious. You clearly care otherwise you would have ignored the thread. Why do you care?

No I do not care. I simply don't (also this thread is not about sales, its about hours played in the game and other game play stats which I think are interesting). I just want to know why the average Joe gamer actually "cares" about sales numbers. IMO, saying you care about something like sales would mean you have skin in the game or are concerned for the outcome for whatever reason.

Stating you are curious about sales is one thing. That does not attach emotion or concern with the outcome. Saying you care, is the opposite.

I care about the sales for the company I work for. I have a vested interest, due the sales we make directly impact my job. I care about the sales of my various investments and such. I really do not care about a game's sales. Sure, I might get concerned if it was a game that I really enjoyed and I want a sequel for it or something like that. But that is because I want to play the game more, not to use the sales numbers as some talking point about the console/game or anything like that.

I see people all the time arguing on here, using units sold as some sort of end all be all metric of a game. Great games sell small amounts all the time. There have also been many terrible games that have sold large amount of numbers. The number sold does not necessary reflect how good a game is.

My point is, unless you have a vested interest in the game, why "care" about the sales numbers?
 

saintjules

Gold Member
I think some people here have spent way more than 40 hours defending or trashing the game. Now that's engagement.

I'm glad they're finally committing to fix the game after spending months pretending there was nothing wrong. Hopefully it will be enough to pull me back in. I got about 30-40 hours of playtime but stopped playing because it was frustrating.

I was frustrated after 2 hours.
 

Fess

Member
Wait!!.........People don't like the ship or planet fast travel.......but here you are complaining about actually running from place to place. Which is it?
It’s my GOTY but I’d say it desperately need some land vehicles, a hovercraft or something. Even with the best pack it’s slooow and when you start collecting resources for outposts and walk around overencumbered it’s painful. NMS got land vehicles post-release, hoping Starfield can get the same.
 
It’s my GOTY but I’d say it desperately need some land vehicles, a hovercraft or something. Even with the best pack it’s slooow and when you start collecting resources for outposts and walk around overencumbered it’s painful. NMS got land vehicles post-release, hoping Starfield can get the same.
They’ve indicated ‘new ways to travel’ in the upcoming updates. Whatever shape that takes …
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Think these company should try launching a hyped AAA game for free, just a download button, no subs no fee, just for free. We would get “biggest launch ever” weekly.
 
Think these company should try launching a hyped AAA game for free, just a download button, no subs no fee, just for free. We would get “biggest launch ever” weekly.

I mean, the games bringing in the most $ are already doing that, I'm not sure it would really standout. The stats for Starfield are very nice for a paid, single player game, but can you imagine what Fortnite's numbers look like. LOL
 
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NickFire

Member
No I do not care. I simply don't (also this thread is not about sales, its about hours played in the game and other game play stats which I think are interesting). I just want to know why the average Joe gamer actually "cares" about sales numbers. IMO, saying you care about something like sales would mean you have skin in the game or are concerned for the outcome for whatever reason.

Stating you are curious about sales is one thing. That does not attach emotion or concern with the outcome. Saying you care, is the opposite.

I care about the sales for the company I work for. I have a vested interest, due the sales we make directly impact my job. I care about the sales of my various investments and such. I really do not care about a game's sales. Sure, I might get concerned if it was a game that I really enjoyed and I want a sequel for it or something like that. But that is because I want to play the game more, not to use the sales numbers as some talking point about the console/game or anything like that.

I see people all the time arguing on here, using units sold as some sort of end all be all metric of a game. Great games sell small amounts all the time. There have also been many terrible games that have sold large amount of numbers. The number sold does not necessary reflect how good a game is.

My point is, unless you have a vested interest in the game, why "care" about the sales numbers?
Sales matter in the industry, so enthusiasts will often care for various reasons. It is not rocket science.
 

Certinty

Member
They’ve definitely ignored all the users who’ve started the game and not put much time into it at all at the very least.

That average of 40 hours is an absolutely ridiculously false stat surely.
 

havoc00

Member
Accept it chuds, Starfield is loved! So many people are playing it so much. It is really popular, and it wouldn’t be so popular if it wasn’t great. And it IS great. Those reviews were wrong. It is fun. Why fight the truth? Your doubt and condescension are risible, and are the product of insecurity. Me and 13 million other champions know that Starfield is lived AND great.
Based
 
@ Certinty Certinty , I'd think the total number of players is one of the more important of the stats presented. If they had 1m users that turned it off after the title screen, they'd include those to boost the player # to 14m. Would barely even change the stat line by the way (38hrs instead of 40).
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Step 1: Post a thread with "TLOU2" in the title.
Step 2: Count how many posts are made explaining why it sucks, why it failed, and why it ruined gaming.
Step 3: Smile knowing you've generated additional ad revenue to help keep Evilore warm this Christmas.
Michael Richards Yes GIF
 
They might just mean Bethesda games and not Xbox.
It's definitely just for Bethesda. It's still bullshit, though, which is why I despise this phony metric of players. You just hit play and you're counted. Whether you bought it, tried it on GamePass, or playing on your buddies system under your account.

Looking at real numbers, Skyrim sold 10M in around a month. Fallout 4 did 12M in the first week. That's real sales, leading to real revenue. If they had been tracking just players back then, I have no doubt both would have been well above 13M at the same point in time.
 
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Wtf real revenue even mean…
Wtf do you think it means? Actual money coming in. Players count means absolutely nothing when they aren't buying anything. It's the real reason MS has switched to this player count, instead of sales. If the sales were anything to tout, they would.
 

Havoc2049

Member
Wtf do you think it means? Actual money coming in. Players count means absolutely nothing when they aren't buying anything. It's the real reason MS has switched to this player count, instead of sales. If the sales were anything to tout, they would.
Game Pass generates revenue for the Xbox division. People buying the $35 Game Pass upgrade for the Starfield DLC generates revenue. The over 2 million people who paid either $35, $99 or $249 to play Starfield in early access generated in the range of $70 million - $498 million in revenue before the game even launched. Every single one of the 13 million people who played Starfield generated some kind of revenue for Microsoft.
 
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