Summary
Bethesda is responding to negativeStarfieldreviews on Steam, which is something of a rarity for triple-A developers. While the initial excitement propelledStarfieldinto stardom, many of its players have become somewhat disillusioned with the game after the honeymoon period ended. The inability to establish a consensus in the community hasearnedStarfielda mixed rating on Steam, as the latest Bethesda title is also the company’s lowest-rated game on the platform. ThoughStarfieldhas its share of bugs, the criticism levied against it primarily concerns its design choices.
Procedural generation remains a contentious topic amongStarfieldfans, as this decision made during its development arguably created more content at the expense of depth. On paper,Starfieldadheres to the defining maxim of a Bethesda sandbox: there’s always something to be found over the next hill. In practice, the over-reliance on procedural generation and subsequent lack of variety resulted in many players characterizingStarfieldas dull or boring, despite featuring inspired systems such as the ship builder.
Over the course of November 2023, Bethesda attempted to soothe the frustration by replying to some of the negative reviews from Steam. The main issues cited in these reviews were eitherStarfield’s lackluster exploration, or the game’s lack of depth. Below is an exampleSteam reviewposted by a player who logged 54.5 hours intoStarfield, followed by a response from Bethesda_Kraken, a member of the Bethesda Customer Support team.
The quote mentioned in the Bethesda reply references Ashley Cheng’s statementfrom a New York Times article. Many players have since pointed out that there is a world of difference between going to the moon and waiting for a loading screen to load the moon in a video game. While some fans havesurveyed all the planets inStarfield, the myriad of negative reviews imply that this experience feels more like a chore than a journey – a sharp contrast to the Commonwealth fromFallout 4orSkyrim, whose rich, handcrafted areas still draw in a sizable crowd even a decade later.
In fact,Skyrimcurrently has more players thanStarfield, reflecting the overall sentiment that Bethesda fans have with its latest release. Though Bethesda should be commended for reaching out to negative reviewers, a few people have pointed out that the stock responses on Steam, such as the one posted by Bethesda_FalcoYamaokaon a different Starfield user review, don’t produce a lot of faith or goodwill. It once again references Ashley Cheng’s statement, and seems to dodge the player’s critique instead of addressing it.
It’s obvious that Bethesda isn’t happy with the response thatStarfieldhas gotten since launch. Todd Howard recently mentioned in an interview that it took 7 years of tinkering forStarfieldto become fun to play, but it seems that it may still need a few months of development. Fortunately, Bethesda has assignedabout 250 developers to work onStarfield, and the game is expected to receive substantial post-launch support in the form of DLCs and expansion packs.
