Hours before Starfield officially launches, it's already the top game on Twitch with 350K viewers

Close-up of man grinning with a cowboy hat
(Image credit: Tyler C. / Bethesda)

Starfield's pressurized doors are open for Twitch streamers a few hours before its early access release and it's already shot to the top of the concurrent viewer charts on the platform.

Bethesda's sci-fi RPG is currently holding onto around 350,000 viewers
(with a 500K peak), which places it right under the Just Chatting category. Top streamers, like Shroud, CohhCarnage, and AnnieFuchsia, already made their characters and are off completing missions and combing rooms for resources.

One streamer, Jabo, is attempting to visit every planet in the game, of which there are over 1,000. They seem like the right person for the job though: Jabo does challenge runs in Bethesda games on their YouTube channel. Their most popular video is of a modded version of Fallout 4 where every time they get a kill, their weapon is swapped to a random one.

With this many hands on Starfield though, the bugs are starting to fill up the popular Twitch clips page. It may be the least buggy Bethesda RPG to our staff, but there's still some jank here and there.

Here's some of my favorite Starfield bugs on Twitch so far:

  • Here's companion Sarah Morgan vibrating with excitement on Auronplay's stream 
  • Two characters on Shroud's stream activate their personal grav drives and launch into space 
  • This background lady judges Lirik's outfit with zero subtlety

RPG diehards might find some use in watching these early Starfield streams. Plenty of streamers are spending time picking character backgrounds and experimenting with skills in the opening section. Like every other Bethesda game, you'll benefit from knowing how these all work before jumping in.

In our Starfield review, Chris said it "never feels as instantly engrossing and transporting as Oblivion or Skyrim or as wild and weird as the Fallout games," but that he's having fun exploring 90 hours in.

Starfield guideStarfield traitsStarfield companionsStarfield romance optionsStarfield console commandsStarfield mods

Starfield guide: Our hub of advice
Starfield traits: The full list, with our top picks
Starfield companions: All your recruitable crew
Starfield romance options: Space dating
Starfield console commands: Every cheat you need
Starfield mods: Space is your sandbox

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Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.