Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 372 sampled Steam reviews (211 positive / 161 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing30% mention it
- World & exploration17% mention it
- Combat11% mention it
- Controls & UI7% mention it
- Bugs & crashes7% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing20% mention it
- Bugs & crashes14% mention it
- World & exploration12% mention it
- Grind & repetition8% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
29%
35 reviews
5-15h
62%
29 reviews
15-40h
50%
68 reviews
40-100h
61%
89 reviews
100h+
63%
151 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 84 | 126 |
| Creator reviews (4 tracked) | – | 69 | 5 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 57% | 58 | 1243 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 70 | 473 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 60% | 60 | 1432 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Jun 11, 2026) · 326 reviews sampled · 1432 total reviews in window · weighted 156 up / 107.9 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (240)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 95
“With hundreds of hours of gameplay, various quests to complete, and thousands of planets to survey and explore, Starfield capitalizes on everything that has worked for Bethesda in the past, giving us an experience that feels like a giant leap in greatness.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Starfield is a shallow ocean, hiding its lack of creative ambition behind the physical size of a universe that’s minuscule where it counts.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Starfield on many fronts is a very good game, but at the same time on many fronts it shows that some things could have been thought about more deeply and implemented differently or simply better. A better pace of the plot and more interesting exploration would definitely have helped the overall perception of the game. Great characters, a lot of interesting side quests and pleasant combat systems definitely help in the positive perception of the game.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Some would say that the modding scene will solve the game's most glaring problems, and that may be true. But it's still worth noting how many problems there are, and how lots of them managed to escape Bethesda's attention. We'll hope that game will have extensive content support in the future, as was promised by the dev team.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“In general, Starfield delivers an above-average combination of mediocre mechanics. There's no denying that Bethesda has created a strong core on which they can build content for months, maybe years to come, through updates and mods. And while Starfield isn't as bad off technologically as it was at the launch of No Man's Sky, it's the vision of future updates that can turn Starfield into something better. To be a game that doesn't just target Bethesda fans but brings a better experience to fans of all space games.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“With a passable story and a lot of empty planets, Starfield is unlikely to be included in the lists of Bethesda's best games. There are enough great things about it: many quests outside of the main story are excellent, the cities are lively and beautiful, and the gameplay, for which many people love the games of this company, has retained its qualities. But I expected something more, something that would take Bethesda to new heights.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Starfield, Bethesda's new RPG is already among us, with a proposal that, although it falls back on old vices, also stands out for its virtues, which reach their highest point. But also a video game that is frustrating, not because it is bad, but because it is evident that it has the potential to be much better.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“On closer inspection, Starfield is a solid RPG that, following in the footsteps of other Bethesda games, offers a vast open world with plenty of activities and exploration, giving players nearly unlimited freedom in their decisions. If you like the Fallout series and have been missing a game of this style on the market for a long time, you’ll enjoy Starfield despite its obvious shortcomings, and even more so if you love sci-fi and enjoy space settings, just like me. However, if you were expecting Starfield to be a revolutionary game packed with innovations, you’ll be disappointed with Bethesda’s work, at least for now. Starfield isn’t bad, but a large number of elements in the game feel unfinished, and it’s clear that Bethesda could have easily taken another year to polish many of them to a successful conclusion. On behalf of us at Gaming Professors, I give the game seven and a half out of ten.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Starfield's Settled Systems can become an immersive, engaging world if you look beyond the flaws to craft your own adventure.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Starfield is not only the best RPG since 2010's Fallout New Vegas, but one of the best video games ever made. ”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Starfield aims high and delivers an expansive galaxy ripe for exploration, but it stumbles in its execution.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“I was drawn into the story surprisingly quickly. This one is full of understatements and develops as you delve into the game, and discovering subsequent pieces of the cosmic puzzle is simply fun. Unfortunately, traditionally for Bethesda, it waters down after some time and, for example, discovering new temples with special powers is simply boring. They all look the same, they are found the same way, and when each is revealed, the same sequence of combat against the same enemy follows.”
read full review ↗
Gamepressure
The Jimquisition
ZdobywcyGier.eu
GameMAG
INDIANTVCZ
3DNews
La Orden del Pixel
Gaming Professors
Gadgets 360
Jump Dash Roll
eXputer
GRYOnline.pl…and 228 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Starfield Update 1.16.244 – June 11, 2026Jun 11, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.16.242 – May 14, 2026May 22, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.16.236 – April 7, 2026Apr 7, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Everything in Starfield’s Free Lanes Update & Terran Armada DLCApr 7, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Everything Coming in Starfield’s Free Lanes Update & Terran Armada DLCMar 17, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.15.222 - August 5, 2025Jul 22, 2025
- Starfield’s May Update is Now LiveMay 7, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.15.216 – May 22, 2025May 6, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield’s November Update is now liveNov 20, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.14.74 – November 19, 2024Nov 5, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.14.70 – September 30, 2024Sep 18, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield’s REV-8 Land Vehicle Drops in Latest UpdateAug 20, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.12.30 - June 9, 2024Jun 9, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- First Starfield Shattered Space Trailer & Highlights from the June UpdateJun 9, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- New Features & Improvements in Starfield’s Latest Major UpdateMay 1, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.11.36 - May 15, 2024May 1, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.10.31 - March 19, 2024Mar 6, 2024
- Starfield Update 1.9.67 Notes – February 20, 2024Feb 7, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.9.51 Notes – January 30, 2024Jan 18, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.8.88 Notes – December 11, 2023Dec 11, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Update 1.8.86 Notes - November 20, 2023Nov 20, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- [UPDATED] Starfield Beta Update 1.8.84 Notes - November 8, 2023Nov 8, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Updates 1.7.36 – October 09, 2023Oct 9, 2023
- Starfield Updates 1.7.33 – September 25, 2023Sep 25, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Starfield Updates and Mod Support – September 13, 2023Sep 13, 2023significant · resets scoring window