Highlights
- Starfield's successful launch has led to a 76% sales spike for the ninth-generation Xbox consoles in the UK, making it the Xbox brand's best week of 2023 so far.
- The open-world sci-fi action RPG has received positive reception overall, although there have been some divisions over its storytelling and exploration system, as well as minor controversies surrounding character customization.
- The launch of Starfield contributed to two successful sales weeks, with the 1TB Series S model making up 24% of console sales. It remains to be seen if Starfield can further boost Xbox sales in the coming weeks, as Xbox still trails behind PlayStation 5 in sales.
Following the successful launch of Starfield, the ninth-generation Xbox consoles have undergone a 76% sales spike in the United Kingdom. When combined with sales of the Xbox Series S 1TB model, this makes for the Xbox brand's best week of 2023 so far.
An open-world sci-fi action RPG, Starfield is the first original Bethesda IP to be released in a quarter of a century, and that alone makes the game worth checking out. It also helps that it's been well-received in most areas, barring some division over its storytelling and exploration system, as well as some minor controversies regarding Starfield's character customization. It has since gone on to become Bethesda's biggest game launch, the most played ninth-gen Xbox title thus far, and the most wishlisted Steam game in the service's history, with a playerbase of over 1 million at launch, jumping to over 6 million as of September 7.
As reported by GfK, Xbox Series X and S sales in the UK increased by 76% between August 27 and September 2, making that Xbox's best week this year, with the following week going on to become the second best. The 1TB Series S model reportedly made up 24% of console sales, and the launch of Starfield contributed to both successful sales weeks. This is due to there technically being two release dates for the standard and premium editions of Starfield: September 1 and 6, allowing it to be counted for two weeks in a row.
Starfield's hotly anticipated launch led to a 46% increase in sales for the standard Xbox Series X during these successful weeks, with the 1TB Series S making up for 20% of sales on the week of September 9. GfK also noted that the third and fourth-biggest weeks of the ninth-generation Xbox's lifespan were week one and week six, respectively, describing them as "early year blips." This marks a noticeable uptick following a reportedly slow year for current gen Xbox sales in the United Kingdom, where the consoles were underperforming in that region until the conclusion of August.
It's always nice to see software sales boost the numbers of hardware, and it's often an event that can save a flailing console. It should be interesting to see if Starfield can boost Xbox sales any further in the coming weeks, but with Xbox sales still trailing behind the PlayStation 5 as of late, it's up in the air as to how massive such a boost could be in the grand scheme of things.
Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz