Starfield has now taken the top spot of Steam’s best sellers list.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, Starfield started climbing a month before release. This was long after the Starfield Direct, so it was a clear sign that fans were waiting for this title intently. They weren’t quite ready to pre-order the game then, but the fans probably couldn’t be blamed given just how loaded this year has been so far with GOTY contenders.
If you needed that reminder, a month before that Starfield Direct, was the release of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy. Days before the Starfield Direct, were the release of Street Fighter 6 and Diablo 4.
Now, in the weeks leading to its release, Baldur’s Gate 3 emerged from the pack of well-regarded titles from smaller studios, to now be regarded as a GOTY contender in its own right. That puts it well ahead of titles like Jagged Alliance 3, Aliens Dark Descent, and Company of Heroes 3 (all of which happen to still be good games that are well worth your time and money, BTW). That also made Baldur’s Gate 3 the top seller on Steam for those weeks as well.
However, the hype machine for Starfield has started pumping out with Bethesda and Microsoft finally taking the baton from their loyal fans, and doing their official marketing for the game themselves. Now, three days before Early Access, Starfield has now overtaken Baldur’s Gate 3 as the best selling game on the platform today.
Tech4Gamers made their screenshot, but we have our own screenshot taken as of this writing and corroborating that Starfield is now on the top spot, followed by Baldur’s Gate 3, and another recent release, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon isn’t quite good enough to get added to the GOTY list, but it has so far proven to be the most successful game in the Armored Core franchise, and also a game worth playing, assuming you have the patience for the taxing immersion required in the mech game genre.
In the midst of all these great games, Starfield’s potential to be the biggest release of the year is massive. Even before it got saddled with the baggage of being the big game for the Xbox Series X|S of the year, there was already the baggage of being Bethesda’s next big game franchise. That baggage also raised the amount of expectations, but more importantly, it also raised the potential for this game to be a huge hit. In fact, it could be the big one for 2023.
Starfield will be releasing on September 6, 2023, on Xbox Series X|S and Windows via Steam. It will also be Day One on Game Pass.