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[ULTROS!]

It might be a very good game to a lot, just like FFXVI (since those 2 have the same scores).

But the issue with this game is that it was poised to be GOTG and the savior of Xbox and it was probably overhyped.

Comparing it to FFXVI, no one claimed that FFXVI would be the savior of the PS5 and people had already rock bottom expectations when it came to FF mainline titles (coming from XIII and XV, even if I enjoyed both).

 

[Success]

Most people aren't losers on internet gaming forums and don't give a fuck about 'review scores', or 'metacritic averages'. They don't give a shit.

This is a ridiculous thread, and there are many people here who need to go outside for a bit.

How would you know how most people are when you yourself clearly "don't go out" because you are on an internet forum.

You need to stop this self-hating behavior and not be ashamed of enjoying your time on forums.

 

[Bond007]

I will say this- if it had the skyrim acclaim, the TOTK acclaim, GOTY omg megaton.- it would be the first game i buy for my Series X ever- since launch. Nope, will try it out in Gamepass and go from there.
Guess Forza can try to get a sale outta me next.

Gamepass subscription on and off for major releases is all i need. $16 here and there.

 

[zeldaring]

Most people aren't losers on internet gaming forums and don't give a fuck about 'review scores', or 'metacritic averages'. They don't give a shit.

This is a ridiculous thread, and there are many people here who need to go outside for a bit.

You're kidding right? When AAA game scores over 93 metracritic it's rare and a big deal it will differently push sales higher. You think Elden ring, GOW:ragnorak and BOTW would have sold as much with a 88 metracritic.

 

[LRKD]

Review scores? No. Gamepass? Yes.

 

[themonk]

Same as a lot of people did with FFXVI.

I think the quality in gaming has died FF16 was terrible but had amazing graphics. The RPG elements where trash in FF16 a fire type move to a bomb takes off just as much damage as any other element when it should actually heal it.

Starfield is a space game that’s not great for exploration. Quick travel in a space game should be limited make me have to drive a rover back and forth and make interesting unique missions.

The fact that FF7 a game that’s over 20 years old has more exploration than modern day “RPGs” is insane.

Baldurs Gate and TOTK are great games but I think there is a far bigger gap between those 2 games and FF16 and what I’m reading about towards Starfield.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

You're kidding right? When AAA game scores over 93 metracritic it's rare and a big deal it will differently push sales higher. You think Elden ring, GOW:ragnorak and BOTW would have sold as much with a 88 metracritic.

Absolutely. The general public, who make up the majority of video game sales, don't follow this stuff and don't care.

 

[kaizenkko]

Starfield: *Reviews at 87MC, equalling Sony's 20 million-seller Spider-man*
NeoGAF: "Do you think Starfield's poor reviews will hurt its sales?"

Insomniac don't spend 8 years developing Spider-Man. Also, they cost just 200 million for Sony.

But the real thing is: Starfield were expect to be the 90+ game Xbox need, but that's not the case. Another big lose for Phil and his team.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

How would you know how most people are when you yourself clearly "don't go out" because you are on an internet forum.

You need to stop this self-hating behavior and not be ashamed of enjoying your time on forums.

Calm down, exhibit A. You're fine.

 

[ZehDon]

Insomniac don't spend 8 years developing Spider-Man. Also, they cost just 200 million for Sony.

... what has this got to do with Starfield's review scores correlating with their sales expectations?

But the real thing is: Starfield were expect to be the 90+ game Xbox need, but that's not the case. Another big lose for Phil and his team.

Starfield: *reviews with an 87MC sitting alongside PlayStation titles such as Spider-man, Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon*
NeoGAF: "Another big loss for Phil and his team."

 

[ULTROS!]

The thing is, Spider-Man, GoT, and Horizon aren’t being touted as 90+++ primary system sellers and people had reasonable expectations with them. Starfield was incredibly hyped, it was defined as the magnum opus of the Xbox Series, and people were expecting it to be like MS’s BotW or something.

 

[ProtoByte]

Why people acting as it got bad scores?

It might not be fair, but when a studio like Bethesda comes out with a new IP promising the world, the 80s seems underwhelming.

 

[Del_X]

Sales might hurt but game pass subs might get a boost.

 

[slade]

When FFXVI got this same score, I said that it would hurt the game's sales potential. The same is true for Starfield. Outside of its inbuilt fanbase, I don't see it selling. Of course, that inbuilt fanbase numbers in the millions so overall, it will be fine. A review score from 94 - 96 would have catapulted it into a wider market though.

 

[phaedrus]

I bought into the hype

 

[Crayon]

Sales are down to steam. It will be xbox's biggest seller on console but that doesn't mean much with gamepass and 20 million consoles out there. The real sales are going to come from steam. It'll sell well at the start and it will keep selling for years. Fallout 4 still has like 120k players a day. 4 points off a 90 is not going to stop that. The place it's going to lose massive numbers of sales is playstation, but that won't slow it down on pc where these games live for a long time thanks to community and mods. If it didn't come out on pc, the sales would be ugly. But it is coming out on PC and even without playstation it will be big.

 

[Danjin44]

It might not be fair, but when a studio like Bethesda comes out with a new IP promising the world, the 80s seems underwhelming.

If 87MC is considered too low score, then I guess I'm out touch with current gaming industry.

 

[Neolombax]

I thought almost everyone was getting this on GP?

 

[Madflavor]

Sales are down to steam. It will be xbox's biggest seller on console but that doesn't mean much with gamepass and 20 million consoles out there. The real sales are going to come from steam. It'll sell well at the start and it will keep selling for years. Fallout 4 still has like 120k players a day. 4 points off a 90 is not going to stop that. The place it's going to lose massive numbers of sales is playstation, but that won't slow it down on pc where these games live for a long time thanks to community and mods. If it didn't come out on pc, the sales would be ugly. But it is coming out on PC and even without playstation it will be big.

You know people shit on Fallout 4 a lot, but I clocked 395 hours on that game and had plenty of fun with it. Although it probably helps that Whispering Hills is one of the best mods I've ever played for a Bethesda game.

 

[Topher]

 

[zeldaring]

Absolutely. The general public, who make up the majority of video game sales, don't follow this stuff and don't care.

I meany even sony said they want developers to have 90+ metracritic games so they differently know it does matter. it's not the deciding factor but games with very high metracritic score have been doing amazing for the past 5 years.

 

[gow3isben]

Let me just give my personal case with it:

I have a PS5 and no X the SEX

I was planning on buying the SEX only if Starfield was really good - like genre-defining. Like Baldurs Gate or Elden Ring. That is a lot of money and I am not gonna shell it out for less than the very best because frankly the SEX has no other games I am interested in that PS5 doesn't.

And no I am not going to be buying it now. Not worth 600 dlrs. I am kind of tired of huge open worlds any way.

But of course I am a rare case here.

 

[GHG]

No but the steam reviews will once they unlock.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

I meany even sony said they want developers to have 90+ metracritic games so they differently know it does matter. it's not the deciding factor but games with very high metracritic score have been doing amazing for the past 5 years.

This thread is about whether or not the scores will 'hurt sales'. Most people do not read video game reviews, and have no idea what the metacritic score is. People on enthusiast forums may, but they don't make up the bulk of the game's sales. Sony wants high metacritic scores because that's one - of many - vectors that they use to measure a game's success. If a game has a horrible metacritic score but sells phenomenally well (like, say CoD?), do you think Sony cares?

They don't. They care about revenue. The average chump with an Xbox isn't pondering what Eurogamer thinks. They are buying stuff advertised on the dashboard, or stuff that their friends say is good, or games with ads at bus stops.

 

[rapid32.5]

Will 88 on a test hurt during semester to get an A ?

 

[Rippa]

GamePass will hurt StarField sales.

 

[ReBurn]

You're kidding right? When AAA game scores over 93 metracritic it's rare and a big deal it will differently push sales higher. You think Elden ring, GOW:ragnorak and BOTW would have sold as much with a 88 metracritic.

Yes.

 

[Fess]

Why people acting as it got bad scores?

Probably saw the US IGN score, there are international IGN websites that are loving it though so it depends on where you’re located. Here in Sweden everybody is rating it high, Gamereactor gave it 9/10, AB 5/5, M3 4/5 etc. Lowest is quite literally 4/5.

I’m thinking it’ll be a good thing to have played and loved No Man’s Sky and Mass Effect, maybe Fallout too, those are the games I see mentioned often. It might not convert someone who hated those games.

 

[lh032]

review is fine.
Game pass is the problem

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

Wow… a looot of defensiveness on this thread.

Yes, imo, this game would sell Xboxen much more effectively with a 90+. No, an 87 likely won’t deter people who were already interested, but that’s not where the difference will come from. This was intended to sell the platform more so than the game itself and I don’t think it’ll do that to any meaningful degree, particularly given that it looks like you’ll need to play it with mods on PC to get the kind of experience that a lot of people were hoping for (which, really, should come as no surprise).

Still, it should drive GamePass subs and will encourage people to notice the world beyond PlayStation, so it will still very much be a success to that extent, particularly if MS can keep sending out games worth noticing even if they’re not 90+.

Also, lol @ Stevivor giving Redfall a 7.5 and this an 8.0.

 

[Shubh_C63]

For this particular game, people who are watching over MC score have already made up their mind.
While casual sales, they really watches IGN and Gamespot scores and their 7/10 WILL hurt.

Moot point though. We are going to get some bullshit numbers because of gamepass so this will never be verified.
NOT announcing sales milestone would be a direct sign of lower than expected sales.

 

[demigod]

If 87MC is considered too low score, then I guess I'm out touch with current gaming industry.

87 is only low when you have fanboys overhyping this game to hell and back as the second coming of Jesus. Publisher blacklisting review outlets with codes. Twittards claiming this game is the game of the generation when it can’t even hit a 90 meta. So yes, 87 is low.

 

[nashman]

Its a very good game better than F4 and not as good as Skyrim. As I, and anyone that follows videogames should have relised quite easily. F4 was mid, Skyrim is god tier, NOT HARD TO LAND INBETWEEN THE TWO!

 

[zeldaring]

This thread is about whether or not the scores will 'hurt sales'. Most people do not read video game reviews, and have no idea what the metacritic score is. People on enthusiast forums may, but they don't make up the bulk of the game's sales. Sony wants high metacritic scores because that's one - of many - vectors that they use to measure a game's success. If a game has a horrible metacritic score but sells phenomenally well (like, say CoD?), do you think Sony cares?

They don't. They care about revenue. The average chump with an Xbox isn't pondering what Eurogamer thinks. They are buying stuff advertised on the dashboard, or stuff that their friends say is good, or games with ads at bus stops.

The game will sell fine but a 94 could have differently helped sells a lot, and added to the hype along with being a top candidate for GOTY.

 

[Danjin44]

87 is only low when you have fanboys overhyping this game to hell and back as the second coming of Jesus. Publisher blacklisting review outlets with codes. Twittards claiming this game is the game of the generation when it can’t even hit a 90 meta. So yes, 87 is low.

I know what you mean, in GAF people keep spamming bunch of Sartfield threads and just became super obnoxious. There is nothing wrong being hype for a game ( I was crazy hype for Armored Core VI) but it seems people just love to go overboard with it.

EXACT same thing happened with Cyberpunk 2077 and you would think people learn from their mistake but no.....people never learn, never.

 

[zeldaring]

87 is only low when you have fanboys overhyping this game to hell and back as the second coming of Jesus. Publisher blacklisting review outlets with codes. Twittards claiming this game is the game of the generation when it can’t even hit a 90 meta. So yes, 87 is low.

It depends on expectations. Bethesda has made genre defining games and considering they put everything into this, 87 is disappointing. it's like the next zelda or elden ring getting below 90, great score but we expect at least a 90.

 

[Kabelly]

Really sad state of affairs when high 80s is considered a possible detriment to sales. Most of these ratings mean nothing. People slobber all of Zelda TOTK and I would not give that give a 9 based on it's Fuse menu sifting.

 

[Perrott]

They're not getting my sale, that's for sure.

The constant loading screens shitshow has broken one of the big pillars of a classic Bethesda RPG experience: immersion.

Throw the charmless, procedural tiny maps into the mix as well as the terrible PC optimization for a game certainly not as ambitious as we thought, and you've kinda lost me already.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Jesus Christ...now 88 is a "not good enough score"...I don't think ANY game that gets on average 80+ score would ever have hurt its sales.

 

[Montauk]

I sat on the fence about buying the premium upgrade and ended up buying it after the scores were published.

It's funny (well, not really) that IGN USA gave it a 7 but the IGN in Spain and Japan think it's a 10/10 masterpiece, IGN Brasil think it's 9.5/10 and IGN France say 9/10.

I think there's enough indication that if you thought you might like the game, then you'll likely enjoy it.

Tbh, I'm surprised at the spread. To contextualize it, certified disaster, Redfall came to rest at 56. Starfield's reviews include a 58. There's something not being your cup of tea and there's wondering if you're being objective or not.

Lol, no professional reviewer wonders if they’re being objective or not, because that isn’t a thing.

It’s a fantasy concept that lives in the mind of gamers who are salty about a review they read that they didn’t like.

Reviews are subjective. Time to move on from this quixotic quest for what you call objectivity.

 

[ProtoByte]

If 87MC is considered too low score, then I guess I'm out touch with current gaming industry.

Here's the thing about the 87; when you actually read the reviews, even the positive ones, Starfield doesn't sound like an 87. Core gamers are somewhat aware of score inflation.

 

[Iced Arcade]

"sales" is a dated metric now (with Xbox anyway)

 

[noise36]

No because it has scored well anyway, but being "free" on game pass will big time. Plus its already cracked on PC so piracy will have an impact.

 

[Perrott]

If 87MC is considered too low score, then I guess I'm out touch with current gaming industry.

Imagine if the next Grand Theft Auto scores an 87, instead of the usual 95+ scores that you'd come to expect from the studio.

That's what we're debating here and the reason why Starfield's scores (but most importantly, the stuff discussed in the actual reviews, beyond the numbers) are a disappointment.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Jesus Christ...now 88 is a "not good enough score"...I don't think ANY game that gets on average 80+ score would ever have hurt its sales.

I think people saying that now an 88 isn't considered good enough are purposefully ignoring the context.

The context being, the game's score is likely to drop from an 88 as more publications review the game. Could end up anywhere from an 87 to and 84.

But the most important context is that people treated this like it was going to be a generational game that redefined things for Xbox as a brand.

Whether an 88, 87, 86, 85, or 84... that just doesn't do that.

Let's take a look at some generational games

PS1/N64
FF7 - 92
Mario 64 - 94
Goldeneye - 96
Gran Turismo - 96
Metal Gear Solid - 94

PS2/Xbox

Halo - 97
GTA3 - 97
RE4 - 96
MGS2 - 96
GT3 - 95
God of War - 94

I love how quickly the script has been flipped here and how the goalposts have been moved. People made it out that Starfield would be the best game Microsoft has released since Halo 3. It's not even their highest rated XS game (Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator both higher).

So I think we can put to bed the idea that Starfield is going to redefine the XS, but so many of us knew that it wouldn't. Even if it was a 95, most people were going to buy this on PC or play it on GamePass.

I think it'll give XS a slight bump, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if the PS5 still outsells it in September and October.

 

[Danjin44]

Here's the thing about the 87; when you actually read the reviews, even the positive ones, Starfield doesn't sound like an 87. Core gamers are somewhat aware of score inflation.

For me personally I don’t really care for actual score itself, I don’t need reviews to tell me if games like Armored Core VI is worth it or not because I familiar with the series I know it’s worth my money regardless what scores it gets.

In other hand games like BG3 doesn’t appeal to me at all regardless how many high scores it gets or how much other people hype about it, I’m just not the target audience for this type of game.

To me “score” alone it’s worthless, even if the game scores high it’s no guarantee you gonna enjoy it and vice versa…when you played games long enough and comfortable with your taste then you don’t need reviews tell you what games is worth it or not, you already know long before that and already planning to buy it.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Lol, no professional review wonders if they’re being objective or not, because that isn’t a thing.

It’s a fantasy concept that lives in the mind of gamers who are salty about a review they read that they didn’t like.

Reviews are subjective. Time to move on from this quixotic quest for what you call objectivity.

I'm not salty about anything, and I'm sure you're right that a reviewer would never ever, ever wonder if their review was fair.

Lol, indeed.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

The game will sell fine but a 94 could have differently helped sells a lot, and added to the hype along with being a top candidate for GOTY.

There is no 'GOTY'. There is only different publications giving their opinions on what THEIR 'GOTY' is.

And, no. The highest selling games on any given year often get very ordinary metacritic scores. 'Call Of Duty' being the top candidate. Outside of enthusiast forums, nobody gives a single, solitary fuck about review scores. You care, because you're interested in online pissing contests. The average knucklehead who walks into EB games, grunts at the cashier, and gets handed Triple Aye Game 2023 does not give a fuck what Paul Tassi has to say about anything, and you're delusional if you believe otherwise.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Probably because it has too much gameplay and not much of movies so it scored lower than 90 on MC... You know which type of gamers I'm talking about

You mean Baldur's Gate 3, Zelda TOTK, Sea of Stars, and Street Fighter 6?

 

[MasterCornholio]

I'm sure Microsoft will give us some sort of sales update soon if it sold ridiculously well. I wouldn't worry about reviews having an impact on them. The most impact will be due to install base size and gamepass.

I don't think it has a bad MC/OC btw.