Starfield Was US Top Seller in September 2023 Despite Game Pass Availability

Starfield managed to outperform Mortal Kombat 1, emerging as the best-selling game of September 2023 in the U.S, according to recent data from Circana. This victory may not come as a surprise considering Starfield is a major new title from Bethesda, however, its sales figures become even more impressive when considering its Day 1 debut on Xbox Game Pass. It is important to note that this statistics exclude a large number of gamers who have accessed Starfield via Game Pass. Furthermore, Starfield officially debuted on PC and Xbox Series X/S on Sept. 6, preceding Mortal Kombat 1's release on Sept. 19.

The second-best selling game of September 2023 was Mortal Kombat 1, which was also released for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Yet, Mortal Kombat's release for the Nintendo Switch didn't quite go as smoothly. EA Sports FC 24 took third place in the best-sellers list, with Madden NFL 24 in the fourth spot and Payday 3 closing out the top five.

Further examining the data, Circana revealed that Mortal Kombat 1's dollar sales aligned with the April 2019 figures of Mortal Kombat 11. It emerged as the top-selling game in the U.S on PlayStation for September 2023, ranking second on Xbox and PC, and third on Nintendo Switch. Starfield unsurprisingly secured the top spot for Xbox and PC, with PC emerging as the main sales platform for the Bethesda release.

In terms of yearly performance, Starfield stands as the seventh best-selling game of 2023, closely followed by Mortal Kombat 1 placed at No. 8. The current best-selling game of the year is Hogwarts Legacy, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. PlayStation 5 retains its lead in both unit and dollar sales, with Xbox Series X/S trailing behind. U.S. consumers spent a total of $4.5 billion on video games in September 2023, marking a 10% increase from the previous year, as reported by Circana's Mat Piscatella.