Starfield gets a negative review on Metacritic…months before its release

Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield has been in the news quite a lot this week following Sunday’s Starfield Direct. Expectations for the game have soared to stratospheric heights after the 45-minute deep dive showcase, and Xbox has a lot riding on the game’s success when it releases on September 6.

Unfortunately the game’s first review is a negative one. As reported by @PeterOvo5 over on Twitter, a user review has appeared on Metacritic giving Starfield a negative score.

Shocking: Metacritic has already uploaded a user review score for Starfield, and it is a negative score that rates the game at a 0.

View here: https://t.co/PwVFIQLgi8 pic.twitter.com/z0aUfAHkdW

— PeterOvo (808) (@PeterOvo5) June 14, 2023

The review comes just shy of three months before the game’s actual release. The user review begins,

Bethesda – because making games that work out of the box is less important than figuring out all the ways to extract as much money form your bank account as possible.”

The user is likely referencing Bethesda Game Studios’ most recent release, Redfall, which launched to a spectacularly poor reception after months of anticipation. Also, the second part of the review’s opening alludes to the possibility of microtransactions in the game. While this has not been confirmed (or ruled out), some have pointed to Starfield’s ESRB rating, which notes “In-game Purchases,” as proof.

The user goes on to disparage Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard. The review seems to be no longer viewable on Metacritic at the time of this writing, although the negative review is still noted on the user review page in the user score distribution field. The info box displays a message saying,

There are no user reviews yet – It is not possible to submit a review prior to this game’s official release.”

Via Gamerficial.