GameSpot: Phantom Liberty leaves Starfield in the dust

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/after-phantom-liberty-launch-cyberpunk-2077s-player-count-leaves-starfield-in-the-dust/1100-6517999/

Cyberpunk 2077's new 2.0 Phantom Liberty update has been extremely well-received by players, who are returning to Night City in droves. The game's concurrent player count on Steam has reached numbers the game hasn't seen since its 2020 launch, but even more surprisingly, those numbers have surpassed that of Bethesda's massive new spacefaring RPG, Starfield.

According to Steam, there are currently 230,735 players exploring Night City, putting it in third place behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (991,070 players) and Dota 2 (604,998). Meanwhile, Bethesda's first new IP in a quarter of a century is lurking in ninth place with 95,690 players exploring the cosmos in Starfield--a number that places it below PUBG: Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, Baldur's Gate 3, Source SDK Base 2007 (used for playing Source Engine mods), and GTA 5. It's worth noting Steam is only one platform for the games on PC, and Starfield's Game Pass players aren't included in its Steam concurrents.

Cyberpunk 2077 had a notoriously rocky launch back in 2020 (thoughthe studio's execs seem to disagreewith that assessment), but it appears that the development team at CD Projekt Red was truly committed to bringing players the experience they'd been been promised via the game's marketing. The new update is so expansive--andadds so many new features to the game--that the game's developers have suggested that players may be better off starting a new game entirely from scratch so they can get the full experience.

Players and critics alike seem to agree that the expansion turns Cyberpunk 2077 into the game it was meant to be, with review scores for the Phantom Liberty DLCsurpassing the scores received by the base gamewhen it launched in 2020. Although it did take three years for Cyberpunk 2077 to reach its full potential, the current player count on Steam seems to suggest players seem to think it waswell worth the wait.

Wowza, I have yet to play Cyberpunk. Sounds like now is a good time. Too bad I don’t have much time for it 😄 Anyone else thinking about playing? For those who have been keeping up on it, is It much better now?

Picked up Phantom Liberty yesterday and will start a new game with the 2.0 patch today.

lol :P

Starfield still causing butthurt. 😂

Pretty sure that 99% of threads I've seen about the subject Starfield, Redfall or Halo Infinite have been made by cows.

Ryan Cryin Jim really has cows down on their luck with the umptheen live service games he's working on.

no its the fact a old broking game gets update and leaves a new suppose to be the best game ever in the dust. one that cost billions to purchase. its just fuel for cows. funny how not many xbox fans making threads about sony first party because there AAA quality and nothing to talk about.

yes im enjoying starfield myself not hating. but its not hfw2 or ratchet and clank graphical game.

just sucks starfield could of been so much more. funny in there universe there is not one ground vehicle. would of make traversing so much better.

no alien races either there so racist lmao j/k.

Yawns

Yes, I miss having different races:

@gifford38: “ funny how not many xbox fans making threads about sony first party because there AAA quality and nothing to talk about.”

Or maybe because there’s a first party drought from Sony? Not a single 1st party exclusive in the whole of 2023?

This could change everything.

Or maybe other fans aren't so insecure like Sony fans are?

Having to watch ST87FIELD on youtube through theradbrad has the TC emotionally reked.

📺👀

@SolidGame_basic: The fact that Starfield is a Game Pass title is a pretty big asterisks, fanboy.

Started is a boring game. I’m not surprised.

never played started,but St87field is great 👍

@sealionact:

Well since we are excluding PC from the conversation... FF16 is exclusive to the PS5 and is higher rated than Starfield, which is Xbox's only exclusive.

FF16 edges out Starfield

Xbox has Forza (lol)

Sony has Spider man 2.

Unless Spiderman 2 flops really hard (impossible - Insomniac is an 8/10 guarantee) it looks like Sony wins the exclusive game for like the 15th year in a row.

But, it doesn't. Most Starfield players are playing the game on Game Pass. There are 10 million players, but the all-time peak on Steam has been 330k. The numbers do not account for 9.7 million players.

The correlation is fallacious. This is not thing but a sad attempt at a copium post.

The fact that this came from GameSpot kinda proves that this site has become "CowSpot". And, it pretty much confirms the bias.

On topic: S7arfield > Cyberjunk.

In all honesty I'm about 9 hours into post-2.0 CP2077 and it most definitely has improved *a lot* from whatever patch it was on before. The combat and levelling systems are now tight af.

Starfield is still the better game tho.

I just finished Starfield and I'm now moving onto Cyberpunk 2077. lol

@saint-george: Started cyberpunk. Is a boring game. Starfield is just average.

Starfield is an incredibly forgettable game. In a month from now, nobody will mention this game being a thing. Sad.

I don’t understand why we are comparing the two. Well I understand why GameSpot did it. The story is fanboy clickbait. They took a narrative on Twitter and ran with it on the site. This is the AngryJoe strategy

Starfield is better than every game you have ever watched on YouTube. You need to pull up your britches and accept the fact that XGS is the future, and you are the past.

A 7/10 is a 7/10🤷‍♂️

I haven't played 2.0, just original CP2077 last fall (aka it was much improved from launch).

Imo CP was already the better game before 2.0. I think the gameplay is more varied and better executed. Worldbuilding is more interesting and better. The characters in CP are much easier to get invested in and care about. The side characters in Starfield are pretty horrible. Finally I think the main campaign in CP2077 is orders of magnitudes better than the one in Starfield. Every aspect of it.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Starfield. But I feel it is much inferior to CP2077, that's for sure.

It also doesn't take much to get Sony fannies triggered.🤭

I'm not getting Starfield anytime soon, probably ever. Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle, like No Man's Sky at release.

CP2077's 2.0 update has been pretty good. I really like the changes they made with the skill tree. There are still issues present from launch that are still here, but for the most part, it's a much much better game than what was shown back then.

Also, path tracing with ray reconstruction is muy bien.

Why are we comparing a dlc to a full title release again? Really praying the Sony Defense Force moves on soon.... It's getting embarrassing.

Also, just started cyberpunk. Really enjoying it!

Cool.

*goes back to playing Starfield*

In fairness Microsoft has really set the tone and pace this generation. They are acquiring massive franchises and studios, while having the best value service in games along with perks like backwards compatability. Sony by comparison is stagnant. Yes they have a few sequels that will make bank, but they're not really setting the pace at the game they feel comfortable playing... They can't produce high end exclusive games fast enough to keep up with the changes Microsoft is making to gaming. They also have been putting games on PC to keep up, but that in ways underminds the exclusive experience that once set them apart from the rest.

Sony is pivoting very hard into GaaS and I would not be surprised if it negatively affects their traditional single-player model. It would be interesting to see the outcome in the coming years.

so funny of course there is a drought they released how many from launch? xbox had a drought for years. heck not one at launch. but that doesn't count right?

besides psvr2 came out this year with over 50 games that you can't play on xbox.

i have been busy all year with it. from res8 and horizon call of the mountain and many more.

sony trys new things while xbox nothing but gamepass.

so other than 360 games what games does gamepass offer that ps plus does not?

I think xbox fans needs to see the ps plus list of games now.

its not 2020 any more. last 2 years ps plus list of games has doubled.

heck ubisoft is included with ps plus were gamepass its separate.

yet this month spiderman2 is coming that is single player. final fantasy 7 part 2 remake single player. mgs3 remake single player. silent hill 2 single player which are third party exclusives or time exclusive. wolverine single player. ghost of t 2 will be single player.

but sony needs some online games its all single player games.

yeah im liking it so far I just hope I don't loss steam before I get to that high level sweat spot.

im level 20. what level have you gotten to?

@gifford38: You asked why Xbots weren’t making fun of Sony 1st party and I replied.

I Said not one single ps5 1st party exclusive so far in 2023 - you come back with “but psvr2 and what about before 2023?”.

Typical fanboy strawman argument.

Been playing 2.0. its excellent.

@gifford38:

“ so other than 360 games what games does gamepass offer that ps plus does not?”

Uh…every single first party game under their increasingly large umbrella? Starfield this month, FM 8 next month. You might also have heard about a deal they made for COD?

I don't have a PC which could do it justice right now. No choice but to wait.

Is it true you get banned from resetera for trying to create Cyberpunk threads? What's all that about?

Ooh.. okay. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. 😅

Forget I said anything.

Game is too clunky and short in my opinion. Phantom Liberty adds 20 more hours of gameplay however. Too bad the gameplay sucks.

That being said, I started my Phantom Liberty playthrough today. Will start Starfield afterwards.

They literally have nothing to play at the moment.

Ask Gamespot, they posted that story.

I played CP 2077 about 6 months after launch and had alot of fun with no real issues, but I was playing it on PC. It's only gotten better with time and updates. I'm also enjoying the hell out of Starfield too. The mods for it are already on point and amazing. Big brain logic tells us you can enjoy both on a single platform. Splitting hair comparisons are for those who are on a single platform that doesn't provide both to enjoy.

So Spider-Man isn’t a 1st party exclusive?

News to me.

Played 100 hours of Starfield. Throughly enjoyed it, 9.5. Beat Cyberpunk last year, wasn’t the biggest fan, it was like a 6.5 for me.

@ermacness: Spider-Man 2 launched already?

News to me.

@ermacness: So Spider-Man isn’t a 1st party exclusive?

Also psvr2 and call of the mountain and gt7 and forspoken and final fantasy 16. 2 third party ps5 exclusives.

@sealionact: You asked why Xbots weren’t making fun of Sony 1st party and I replied.

I Said not one single ps5 1st party exclusive so far in 2023 - you come back with “but psvr2 and what about before 2023?”.

Typical fanboy strawman argument

Gt7,call of the mountain,spiderman2 all in 2023.

Before 2023 you say. So many titles before 2023.

So three first party games in 2023.

So far Xbox red fall, starfield(which would of been on ps5), the car game to. Three So far just as many.

Also psvr2. So now what? Seems Sony released more.

@gifford38: GT7 and Spider-Man 2 haven’t released yet, call of the mountain isn’t a pa5 game and psvr2 isn’t a game.

No wonder Cryin’ Ryan left the company.