Starfield PS5 sales disappoint with 140k copies sold relative to expectations

Alinea Analytics, the market research firm that brought the stats out for Marathon, is back with another interesting banter. This time, it’s about how relatively poor Starfield has done on PS5, despite an otherwise successful revenue journey so far.

Starfield does not look too successful, relative to expectations 

According to the analysis, Starfield has netted around 140k copies sold since its launch on the PS5. That’s a rather small figure considering the sales figures on Steam and Xbox, including Game Pass subscriptions, when it first launched in September ’23. In terms of sales figures, though, 140k copies like that come to around $7.7 million USD, which probably pays for the port over to PS5.

What the analysis does paint, at least according to Alinea, is that these numbers are a mere shadow of what could be coming for exclusivities. Steam figures suggest Starfield netted $200 million USD, which is a staggering number considering how poorly received, yet highly anticipated it was for the common Bethesda gamer.

The contrast with other Xbox ports is stark. Forza Horizon 5, which launched on PS5 in April 2025, has sold over 5 million copies on the platform, generating over $300 million in revenue. That’s from a four-year-old racing game that had already been available on Xbox and PC for years. The difference in reception and sales performance between the two ports couldn’t be more dramatic.

It’s a sign that the marketing damage for Starfield is quite hard. Starfield’s PS5 launch does have issues with performance on the console however, and it’s likely had an impact on others getting the game. That is with the Free Lanes update bringing people back on Xbox and Steam and the new Terran Armada paid-for DLC that came with it too.

So there are a few figures to say that Starfield had its name dragged through the mud, and it then hit another puddle on the way out, if you like the analogy.

It does raise questions on what Xbox’s exclusivity strategy will be moving forward. Rumours have floated around this past few days about internally what it should do with exclusivity to platforms going forward. If these sales are anything to go by, then Starfield would have likely performed significantly better if it dropped at the same time as Steam and Xbox. 

Forza, on the other hand, has performed exceptionally well on PS5. It sold about 5 million copies, as reported in January by the same analytics firm. It proves that quality ports to an audience that likes those games can succeed even years after their original release. Perhaps PS5 being ‘for the players’ can work to their advantage regardless, as long as the game itself is largely not tarnished for various reasons.