September 2023 Circana: PS5 Still on Top Despite Chart-Topping Starfield

I'm definitely surprised that Starfield sold well enough to be number 1, especially with it being an xbox exclusive that's also on game pass. But I do think it's deserved. Its definitely not the all conquering juggernaut be-all-and-end-all that some people expected. But it's a very fun game and has that Bethesda spark to it

If EA sports FC didn't come out at the very end of September then it would of been top. It will be interesting to see where Starfield is in October's charts.

I am surprised that after all of this time, Elden Ring is still in the top 20. It is worth it in my opinion. Also good to see that From Software has 2 games on this list.

I only lasted an hour or 2 in starfield biggest disappointment ever. I'm pissed cause bathesda said nothing I was buying a bathesda game 🤦 totally not my bathesda

Wow. I didn't realize Gran Turismo 7 was selling so well. Good for it!

Not sure why had a little chuckle when read Lies of P didn't make the top 20

And to think that four months ago everyone was sure that Sony was ruined and that the Xbox would sell like water in the desert after showcases.

Well done Bethesda on your sucess. And this week we have a heavyweight tussle between mario wonder and Spiderman, both releasing on the same day. All 3 platforms are doing well, its great to see as a fan

@ED_209 why would people think that when you don't even need an Xbox to play xbox games

I technically bought Starfield on xbox but entirely with bing points i have been stashing, still at $80. If anyone is interested in Starfield, its not worth it lol, extremely dated gameplay in modern era and minute load screens every 2 mins with constant need for the menu

@naruball the entire Gran Turismo series is almost nearing 100 mil total. Not something like GTA series numbers but still very impressive for one console and not bad at all for racing games that dont usually always do huge numbers. GT definitely has its fans and you'll always easily get into any GT online race many years after its released

@Batesy125s sales probably mostly from PC side, although not sure if circanna takes into account all the refunds steam had for it

@Mad001 sames, what was your biggest issue, for me gameplay was very dated and still 2008 like, but the consisted load screens and need for menu every 2 minute were so frustrating

Surprised to Starfield at number 1, although it’s good to see given it’s only on Xbox and PC and on Game Pass.

No real surprises anywhere else - good to see Mortal Kombat do well

I think PS5 and Spider-Man 2 will be #1 for October as I don't see SMB Wonder's physical sales outselling Spider-Man 2's digital + physical sales (Nintendo doesn't provide digital sales for these charts).

People surprised that Starfield sold well but Bethesda’s core fan base is on PC not consoles. Steam sales alone would always be enough for Starfield to be no.1 despite its relative underachievement on Steam.

@Sakai crazy how people are hyped about considering the 100th & umpteenth mario game with rehashed 90s gameplay to be a competitor to spider-man

@Grumblevolcano good point about switch not counting digital and physical sale, so spiderman 2 will be massive

@Batesy125s It's on Xbox and PC and PC was also the lead sales platform.

Also remember PS5 has an install base of around 16M in the US.

@Gunnerzaurus almost as If console players dont buy CRPG's.

@Rmg0731 lol can't say on here the whole thing was wrong couldn't play it.

@nomither6 If you actually knew anything about the new mario game you would know its got so many new systems and gameplay ideas its positively bursting with ideas.
Before I checked out what's in the game I thought 'yawn, another 90's platformer'. I was wrong and I'm more than happy enough to dust down my switch and get stuck in. I'll be playing Mario before I play spiderman 2..

Oldies Mario Kart 8 and R6 Siege still going well.

@nomither6 it's currently at a 94 on metacritic, so plenty of people seem to rate it very highly

@Gunnerzaurus

It's something to do with Larian not reporting numbers or being part of the digital sales reports? Something like that I saw Matt Piscatella saying

Not surprised. Starfield was Day 1 for me, and Loved it. Played it on PC Game Pass so I do not count as a sale - makes #1 even more impressive.

I did pay for the upgrade. Playing it for $10 seemed criminal, even if legal.

But that does not change the fact that the PS5 is the best console right now. You buy a PS5 first... and go from there.

@Rmg0731 This list is probably not even count PC steam sales since digital sales aren’t included… So it literally just Physical Xbox sales, and what ever physical collectors edition that were still available for PC.

Congratulations to both Microsoft and Sony. 2023 has been a great year and it's not even over yet!

Starfield only sold decently because of pc not Xbox because Xbox series x still lose September to PlayStation 5.

@nomither6

Yeah. Hard sell to go from an epic like Starfield (and Phantom Liberty) to playing a 2D Mario.

I bought Spider Man 2 - but have Mario Wonder on my rental list at GameFly. I'll check it out when they get around to shipping it.

@Beerheadgamer82 wow. I had no idea the series was close to 100m. I hardly ever hear anyone talking about it anymore. It used to be all the rage back in the day.

@Batesy125s

Normally I don't like to crap on what others like but I think the final sentence in your post was a little off.

You said "But it's a very fun game and has that Bethesda spark to it"

I think you meant to say

"But it's a very glitchy game and has that layer of Bethesda crap on it"

lol just jokes folks so I would appreciate the hate comments being kept at 3 out of 10 - coincidentally this is the same as the review score Starfield deserved.

But I kid, Bethesda meant to put this game out with all the extra loading screens on purpose so you can read all the tips and tricks needed to pretend the AI is good.

Ok that was the last one...is what Bethesda should have said after they created Skyrim!!! Oh Boy...lol...

@naruball not so sure its as popular as it was in the PS1, PS2 and PS3 days but there's still a big community of fans for it kicking about. 2017s GT Sport put a lot of long time GT fans off, myself included, but still got it after release and enjoyed the many online races. I think GT8 needs a much deeper chunkier back to basics career mode for it to reach the PS2 heights again?

@Powerplay94
Just imagine how much more barren and embarrassing Xbox would have been without Bethesda. Starfield, Redfall, and Hi-Fi Rush all released this year.

@TheCollector316 Just imagine how much more barren and embarrassing Playstation would have been without Insomniac. Spiderman 2 releases this week.

Man, GT7 is such a tour de force. It was released like 18 months ago and still manages to figure in the top 20.

And it's well deserved. GT7 on PSVR2 with a good set of wheel and pedals is the single most incredible experience one can have in console gaming today.

@cburg Let's be fair. There's just no comparison here.

@cburg
Surely, you are not equating the purchase of a multiplatform publisher to the purchase of studio that has made dozens of PlayStation-exclusive games and only a few games for other platforms since 1996? Surely.

@cburg embarrassing of what exactly? Only having one big release this year and still outselling the console where you can play "the game of the generation"? Yup I guess they are under the bed right now LOL

@nomither6 if you knew anything about Wonder, you'd know it's a far more creative game than Spidey 2, actually bursting with ideas.
I'm not buying either cause I'm not into 2D platformers anymore and I loathe superheroes, but if I had to choose between a creative, fun platformer and a by-the-numbers open world game with gameplay ripped straight from 15 years old Batman games, well, I know what I'd go for hands down.

@GymratAmarillo I guess you missed that I just copy and pasted and just inserted Sony and Insomniac. Anyway, on we go.

@clvr

SPIDERMAN for Sure!!!!

It's great that Starfield reached number one in Sep. One reason it arrived early in the month and also on PC which is where the wrpg lovers enjoy. But we should track its sales on Oct as well. There were many games that can create a hype so they are very successful in the first few weeks only and then disappear from charts shortly. Example: ff16

I'm surprised Balders Gate 3 failed to chart with a full month on playstation and only its second month on pc.

@clvr it’s just 2D mario lol

3 sports games in the top 10 is sad 😔 😟

I have really enjoyed Starfield so far, good to see it doing so well in physical sales. Very suprised to see it at no1 to be honest as September was a strong month for gaming. So many armchair and bed experts saying that nobody would buy the game because of gamepass..

I'm looking forward to Spider-man 2 and that will certainly be no1 next month. Pretty much the reason most people would own a PS5 is for Spider-man.

@BacklogBrad No digital sales and what is that game digital only. 😉

@Flaming_Kaiser to quote the official Circana post. "Top 20 games (Physical and full game digital from eshop,playstation, steam, and xbox platforms)."

Digital sales are included. The caveat is that it is done at the publishers discretion but the question is why would you want to exclude the fact that your game is a bestseller? It's free advertising and would drive more sales.

In the article above, only the ones with * symbol are excluding digital sales (2 nintendo games and NBA).

@UltimateOtaku91 Yeah, EA sports FC was only out for 1 day otherwise it was guaranteed to take the top spot and Starfield had nearly a 3 week head start on Mortal Kombat so I'm not surprised.

@nomither6 wow what a rebuttal.