Todd Howard Defends Starfield NG+ Amid Bethesda Rework

Todd Howard is addressing criticism of Starfield’s New Game Plus system. He told PC Gamer that players have fundamentally misunderstood Bethesda’s goals, even as the studio quietly revamps how NG+ works in response to that feedback. This marks a rare public acknowledgment that the initial design didn’t resonate, wrapped in a defense of their original vision.

Starfield launched in September 2023 with a Metacritic score of 88, but its reception on Steam tells a different story. The game has just a 56% positive rating across 116,585 reviews. The NG+ system, which removes players’ gear and companions at the start of each new cycle for a parallel-universe narrative twist, has sparked significant debate.

Howard explained to PC Gamer that Bethesda aimed to create a system rewarding repeat playthroughs with genuinely different experiences, rather than punishing progress. “We want to be trying to do more things that update the game where it’s going to change the next 100 hours,” Howard said. This suggests that the rework isn’t just a simple patch; Bethesda is positioning it as an expansion of the core gameplay loop.

Whether this rework will shift player perception remains to be seen. Right now, Starfield has about 18,956 concurrent players on Steam, which shows steady but unremarkable retention for a game of its size and budget. In contrast, Bethesda’s Fallout 4 often exceeds 50,000 concurrent players on PC, especially during events like the Fallout TV series.

Howard’s comments also carry a clear accountability message: “You can tell us if we’ve done our job right.” This approach frames the NG+ rework as something the community can evaluate, allowing Bethesda to continue refining it while also setting a clear expectation for player feedback.

By The Numbers

Metacritic Score	88
Steam Positive Reviews	56% (116,585 total)
Current Steam Players	18,956
Current Steam Price	$49.99
Release Date	September 6, 2023

Community sentiment remains largely negative. One Steam reviewer captured the frustration succinctly: “Repetitive, boring, empty, soulless.” This sentiment has appeared multiple times in recent negative reviews. While the criticism isn’t solely aimed at NG+, it reflects a broader dissatisfaction that a mechanical rework may not fix.

What To Watch

• How Bethesda executes the NG+ changes in practice — especially if players can maintain meaningful progression between cycles and if the narrative divergence is significant enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.
• Steam review score changes following the update’s release. If the score climbs above 60% positive, it would indicate the changes are hitting home; a stagnant or declining score would suggest deeper issues with player engagement.
• Whether concurrent player numbers rise after the patch. A jump to over 30,000 would suggest that previous players are returning; a continued decline may indicate that the opportunity for recovery is closing.