Starfield’s eye-popping player count makes it the biggest Bethesda release ever

Starfield has exploded onto the gaming scene, already becoming the single biggest release the experienced developers of Bethesda have ever shipped.

Just over 24 hours after the game’s full release, Starfield has already passed six million players, which makes it the biggest launch and release in Bethesda’s history. This is no small feat, as other games from Bethesda, including popular titles from the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, all had bucketloads of hype heading into their respective launches.

None reached Starfield’s heights though, and it’s still rising in popularity.

Bethesda’s track record with blockbuster games on launch varies wildly, from successful to disappointing. There are big success stories like Skyrim becoming one of the go-to RPGs for over a decade, so much so that the next game in the Elder Scroll series already has fans excited at the thought despite the lack of solid information.

Yet, one of their more recent launches, Fallout 76, is still one of the best examples of an extremely hyped-up game disappointing nearly every fan on launch.

This put Starfield in a weird middle-ground, with plenty of fans both excited and cautious to get it on launch day. That was until early reviews came out, revealing how the gameplay and story work for such an open-world game, or in this case, open-universe.

Players rushed to get the new game—or at least subscribe to Xbox Game Pass and get the title included with it—starting Sept. 6.

Now, the game is officially the biggest Bethesda release ever. It makes sense, because even with the popularity of older games by Bethesda, they gained their reputation and traction over time, from months to years. Starfield came out on launch to a built-in fanbase, all eager to make unique characters, travel across worlds, build their ships, and complete the story. That desire to hop on as soon as possible has led to this massive milestone.

Not only that, but as of today the title also boasts just shy of 250,000 concurrent players grinding the game on Steam alone, just below juggernauts of Dota 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and CS:GO, according to SteamDB.

Related: Starfield blasts past mega player milestone just 27 hours after launch

That doesn’t even factor in the console players, which adds a lot to those already large numbers. Starfield is Bethesda’s biggest game ever, and the numbers are proving it.