Starfield: A Challenging Start on Steam Deck
Although Bethesda RPGs are usually popular on the Steam Deck, Starfield has not managed to achieve the same consistency as Skyrim or Fallout. After Starfield launched earlier this year, it seemed like the game could follow in the footsteps of previous Bethesda RPGs and become a mainstay on the Steam Deck. Unfortunately, it appears that the game has not been able to escape the towering shadows of Skyrim and Fallout.
Despite the fact that over 250 developers are currently working on Starfield, there is still reason to believe that Bethesda's latest game will eventually become one of the top Steam Deck games. However, in the here and now, Starfield is not particularly well-represented on Valve's handheld, and its apparent popularity within the Steam Deck community speaks to that.
The Dominance of Skyrim and Fallout
Despite the dominance of Baldur's Gate 3 and other RPGs on the Steam Deck, the statistics for the most played Steam Deck games in November 2023 do not include Starfield (although it appeared in the previous two months). This is by no means a gradual decline in popularity, but rather a crash from 5th place in October to nothing this month.
For comparison, the spiritual predecessors Skyrim and Fallout 4 have both remained in the top 20 for 15 months. The situation is no less bleak on Steam overall, as Starfield has fewer Steam players than Skyrim. Part of this can of course be explained by the PC Game Pass and the prices of each game, but to what extent both factors play a role, no one can say.
Starfield remains a great game nonetheless
All that being said, Starfield remains great, even if it's not the game of the year, and we sincerely hope it can experience a renaissance similar to No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077. However, for it to be successful in the handheld space, Bethesda needs to address the compatibility issues of Starfield with the Steam Deck first.
Looking for more information?
For more information, we recommend checking out our review of the Steam Deck OLED if you're wondering whether you should buy Valve's handheld or upgrade from the LCD model.
