Bethesda Game Studios’ game has finally landed on Sony’s console two and a half years later, even though it had originally been planned for that platform before Microsoft bought ZeniMax Media.

Although the PlayStation 5 version of Starfield only landed somewhere in the middle of the pack when compared to recent PlayStation ports of Xbox-published games, its sales were still strong enough to push it to the top of the weekly U.S. charts. Mat Piscatella, executive director and games industry analyst at Circana, reported that during the week ending April 11 – the same week Starfield launched on PlayStation 5 – it was the best-selling game in the United States. That not only returned the game to the number one spot, but also marked the first time it had climbed back to the top since its original 2023 release.

There is, however, a less flattering detail buried in that story. When the game first launched on Xbox Series and PC, the week it topped the U.S. sales charts was actually the week before release. In other words, heavy pre-order momentum, fuelled by the first positive wave of reviews published on August 30, 2023, did the lifting. A week later, once players actually got hold of the game and public sentiment became more divided, Starfield failed to return to the top of the charts. That only happened now, and that is not especially surprising given that the PlayStation 5 version arrived alongside the free Free Lanes update and the Terran Armada DLC.

Beyond the new update and expansion, it is also worth noting that the PlayStation 5 version of Starfield is widely seen as a strong port overall, aside from some launch stutters and bugs that Bethesda Game Studios is still working to iron out.

Source: WCCFTech, Bsky