Starfield's performance on PlayStation 5 has been described as "lukewarm" by an industry analyst, who is now casting doubt on Microsoft's approach of releasing its titles on PS5 well after their initial launch on Xbox and PC. According to Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics, Starfield moved approximately 140,000 copies on PS5 within the first week of its release on that platform. Bethesda has not officially disclosed sales figures for the PS5 version or provided a general update since November 2024, when it was reported that the game had attracted over 15 million players across all available platforms.
Elliott commented, "While these numbers might be respectable for many ports, they aren't particularly impressive for a port of Bethesda's most significant RPG in ten years. It's worth noting, however, that when aligned with its launch timing, it's selling faster than other Xbox games that have transitioned to PlayStation in the last six months, excluding Call of Duty." He added, "Nevertheless, Starfield's modest PS5 sales naturally prompt questions about the long-term sustainability of Xbox's strategy of delayed multiplatform releases, given that Starfield arrived on PS5 2.5 years after its debut on Xbox and Steam."
For comparison, Playground's Forza Horizon 5 has reportedly sold an estimated 5.7 million copies on PS5, generating around $320 million in revenue, according to Alinea Analytics. Forza Horizon 5 was released on PlayStation in April 2025, which was three-and-a-half years after its initial launch on Xbox.
Alinea Analytics' data also indicates that the release of the Free Lanes update, which coincided with the PS5 version, led to an additional 55,000 copies sold on Steam, bringing in about $2.3 million. This reportedly pushed Starfield's total Steam revenue beyond the $200 million mark, a figure that includes an estimated 3.7 million copies sold on Steam prior to the DLC release.
However, this doesn't capture the full scope of Starfield's commercial success. The Bethesda sci-fi RPG also launched on Xbox and, as a Microsoft-owned title, was immediately available on Game Pass. Elliott noted that the Xbox version sold over 1 million copies despite Game Pass potentially "cannibalizing sales."
Elliott estimates that Starfield has generated over $300 million in revenue across all platforms since its launch, a sum he suggests may not be sufficient for a high-profile Bethesda game with such a lengthy development cycle. "Considering Bethesda's budget and the decade-long development, Starfield has likely only just broken even," he said, mentioning that the recently released Crimson Desert is projected to surpass Starfield's lifetime sales by the end of 2026. Crimson Desert has already sold 5 million copies to date.
"Ironically, this scenario might have been different if Starfield had launched simultaneously on PS5 and hadn't been included in Game Pass on Xbox and PC," Elliott added.
While Microsoft has recently adopted a strategy of launching games on PS5 concurrently with Xbox and PC, there are exceptions. For instance, Playground's Forza Horizon 6 is set to release on Xbox and PC in May, with a PS5 version following later this year.
