During the Early Access Period, Starfield had over 248,000 concurrent players on Steam

Starfield doesn't come out until September 6, but it's already shattering records on Steam. At the time of writing, the sprawling space RPG has an all-time high of 248,632 concurrent players, demonstrating how eager players have been anticipating Bethesda's next. Those who don't want to wait for the official launch can buy the Rs. 6,699/ $100 Premium Edition of the game and play it early. This is true for both the Steam and Xbox platforms, with Game Pass users prepared to pay $31.49/ Rs. 2,519 for early access despite the fact that the title is effectively free for them.

Given that the Xbox Game Pass branding has been placed on Starfield since the beginning, the early access plan is a wonderful opportunity for Bethesda to gain more profit from the game's sales. During Microsoft's June trial against the US FTC, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan testified that the video game publishers he met with aren't lovers of Game Pass and unanimously believe that it is 'value damaging.'

Aside from online multiplayer access and free games, the subscription service makes first-party exclusives available on the site from the start. Because this clearly affects sales (as proven by Xbox boosting pricing), introducing paid extras like unlocking the game early appears to be the proper solution. According to VG247, Starfield's Premium Edition Upgrade is the best-selling product in Microsoft stores worldwide, and it is exclusively available to Game Pass users.

In addition to strong sales statistics, gamers all around the world have been pushing the game's boundaries, with speedrunner 'Micrologist' completing Starfield in under three hours. Others, however, have been attempting to manually land their ships on planets by traveling through space for hours, only to cut through it and be confronted with emptiness that isn't properly rendered. Exploration has been a topic of discussion in Starfield, as instead of allowing you to freely walk around in space, the game compels you to fast travel and warp around to different solar systems or planets. The same is true when launching from a planet into space, where you must first access a menu and choose a location on the globe before a cutscene and loading screen play.

Despite its exploratory constraints, Starfield has gotten generally positive reviews, with an 88 percent Metacritic score for the PC version and an 86 for the Xbox Series S/X. According to director Todd Howard, the game is best described as "Skyrim in space," and it is Bethesda's first new world in 25 years, bringing you on a future voyage to explore 2330 outer space, its planets, and people. You'll start as a space miner and work your way up to join the Constellation, the final group of space explorers on the hunt for rare artifacts around the cosmos. It also has a prison system, faiths to follow, and the Persuasion system from Fallout 3 to assist advance the plot without conflict, while a completely pacifist run is impossible.

Starfield is already available in early access for those who purchase the Premium Edition; for everyone else, the game will be available on PC, Xbox Series S/X, and Xbox Game Pass on September 6th.