Highlights

  • Starfield's mixed reception upon release and its lack of recognition at the Game Awards puts Bethesda and Xbox in a precarious spot.
  • Despite achieving over 10 million players, Starfield has only been nominated for one Game Award, Best RPG of the year.
  • Starfield faces tough competition in the Best RPG category with highly acclaimed games like Final Fantasy 16 and Baldur's Gate 3, putting even more pressure on Bethesda's next project, Elder Scrolls 6.

2023 may not have been the best year for the gaming industry as a whole, with an incredibly disappointing number of layoffs in recent months and some controversial business practices all year round, but it has been an undeniably excellent year for video game releases themselves. Since about March, there's been a non-stop cavalcade of huge video game releases, with long-awaited sequels, remakes, and exciting new Indie games all dropping within quick succession. By far one of the biggest releases of the year has been Bethesda's Starfield.

A game over seven years in the making, Starfield marked the first single-player Bethesda game since Fallout 4, and the first major Bethesda project since the much-maligned Fallout 76. A lot was riding on Starfield, and thanks to Redfall's disappointing release earlier in the year, it wasn't just Bethesda's redemption on the line, but Xbox's as well. But while Starfield seemed like a pretty big success at first, its following reception and the recent Game Awards nominee announcements may end up severely impacting both Bethesda and Xbox in the near future.

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Starfield's Lack of Recognition at The Game Awards Puts Bethesda in a Precarious Spot

Starfield Might Not Have Been the True Success That Bethesda or Xbox Expected

On its initial September 1 early access release, Starfield received a fairly mixed reception. The day before Starfield's early release, critics dropped their reviews, some of which praised the game generously and said it easily lived up to Bethesda's most prestigious past titles, while others claimed the game had some glaring issues and probably wouldn't be as memorable as Skyrim or Fallout before it.

That divisive critical reception seemed to carry over to the fan reception as well, with some players adoring the game, but others really disliking it and believing it to be a step back for Bethesda's formula in a few key ways. Regardless of its reception, Starfield was touted as a huge success for both Bethesda and Xbox, with the game having achieved over 10 million players by September 21, just a few weeks after launch. However, that apparent success hasn't really translated to the upcoming Game Awards.

Last week, Geoff Keighley announced the nominees for the upcoming Game Awards 2023 ceremony, set to take place on December 7. As gamers expected, this year's Game Awards is absolutely packed to the brim with nominees that definitely deserve their spot, though that does mean that some big games have been snubbed, and Starfield is certainly one of those. Starfield has only been nominated for one Game Award, and that's for Best RPG of the year.

The Next Bethesda Game Has a Ridiculously High Bar to Reach

While awards certainly aren't everything, Starfield's lack of nominations at this year's Game Awards is pretty telling of the game's current status a few months from launch. While it may have been a major success for Bethesda and Xbox, Starfield has seemingly failed to reach the upper echelons of this year's video game output, at least critically. What's worse is that Starfield probably doesn't have much of a chance of winning the one Game Award it's been nominated for.

No matter how much die-hard fans enjoyed Starfield, it's going up against some ridiculously good games in the Game Awards' Best RPG category. From Final Fantasy 16, to Lies of P, to Sea of Stars, and (biggest of all) Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield realistically doesn't stand much of a chance when all is said and done. This will undoubtedly put even more pressure on Bethesda's next project, Elder Scrolls 6, which is already a game that fans are simply expecting to be one of the greatest games ever made right off the bat.