How Starfield achieved 10M players

Sep, 2023 How Starfield achieved 10M playersStarfield’s astronomical launch: Bethesda’s largest release into an intensively competitive market

0405070914© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|2Starfield timeline Trailer strategy & creatives Gameplay reveal strategy & creatives Pre-order announcement strategy & creatives International strategies Microsoft collaboration External advertisers Key takeaways 151617

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|Sensor Tower’s Qualitative Insights team created the revenue and download forecasts featured in this report using the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform. ●Figures cited in this report reflect App Store and Google Play consumer spending and download estimates for January 1, 2018 through May 31, 2023. ●The market forecast for 2023 to 2027 is based on past spending and download trends, macroeconomic projections, and additional factors. ●All revenue figures in this report capture consumer spending (gross revenue). This includes the revenue earned by the app developer as well as the portion earned by Apple or Google. ●Android estimates represent revenue and downloads from the Google Play Store only. Sensor Tower does not provide spending or download estimates for third-party Android stores. ●Since Google Play paused its billing for users in Russia on March 10th, 2022, Google Play consumer spending in Russia for the remainder of 2022 and beyond has been excluded from the forecast.About this data: Methodology© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|3

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|4Genre: RPG Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Platforms Available: Windows, Xbox Series X/S IP: First new IP from Bethesda in over 25 years Starfield timelineBethesda announces StarfieldSep 2018Microso ! acquires Bethesda Game StudiosMar 2021Bethesda releases the o ff icial trailer for StarfieldJun 2021Bethesda showcases gameplay at E3Jun 2022Early access for pre-orders becomes availableSep 1 2023Pre-orders go live with final release dateJun 2023O ff icial worldwide release dateSep 6 2023

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|5•After a long period of waiting from the initial announcement in 2018, Bethesda released their official trailer for Starfield in June 2021 •Starfield’s strategy focused primarily on promoting their official teaser trailer on YouTube , along with a small amount of Twitter and Facebook posts •When looking at impressions rather than spend, you will notice a high volume on Twitter during this period •As this data was collected before the launch of our YouTube in-app channel release, all of the YouTube spend will be in Desktop VideoTrailer strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|6•In March 2021, Bethesda joined Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios •Bethesda released their 2-min trailer on YouTube after E3 in June 2021, which touted a brand new universe from the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4 •After showcasing alpha footage of Starfield, the final CTA is to “Play It Day One with Xbox Game Pass” between Microsoft and Bethesda) •The landing page for this creative directing viewers directly to the Starfield page on Bethesda’s website Trailer creative strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|7•Almost one year after Bethesda released their official teaser-trailer, they released a had a full gameplay reveal at E3 2022 •Bethesda’s creative strategy featured YouTube heavily, along with popular websites for gamers like Reddit, Twitch, and GameSpot •There was also a smaller Twitter presence at 4% of estimated ad spend and 10% of estimated impressions •As this data was collected before the launch of our YouTube in-app channel release, all of the YouTube spend will be in Desktop VideoGameplay reveal strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|8•Bethesda focused on two similar shorter creatives for the Gameplay Reveal ( 15s and 30s ) •These creatives both have voice-overs to welcome the viewers to “Constellation” and feature gameplay footage •The CTA at the end of each creative encourages viewers to “Watch the Full Gameplay Reveal” and continues to promote Xbox Game Pass •The third most viewed creative during this timeframe was a static image promoted on Reddit that also prompted users to watch the Gameplay RevealGameplay reveal creative strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|9•Starfield became available for pre-order in June 2023 •The creative strategy for the pre-order announcement took a bit different approach from previous campaigns •Programmatic spend focused on Twitch for Starfield during the pre-order announcement phase •Social spend was primarily TikTok then Instagram , and socials played a larger role during this timeframe •YouTube fell behind programmatic and socials during this timeframePre-order announcement strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|10•Starfield’s programmatic strategy continued to focus on shorter form videos for their pre-order campaign (30s , 15s ) •The CTA shifted slightly from focusing only on Game Pass, to showcasing the Premium Editions that were available for pre-order •The benefits of the Premium Edition are also touted; 5 days of early access, the first expansion, skins, and other digital extras •The creatives also linked to a pre-order landing page on Bethesda’s site, which provides comparisons of the various editions available for purchase •Pre-order programmatic creative strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|11•The strategy on socials was primarily quick videos and video posts ( 6s ) •Socials creatives focused less on Premium Editions and more on the pre-order date specifically •The creatives did not explain the benefits of the Premium Edition ; however, they did link to a pre-order landing page on Bethesda’s site, which provides comparisons of the various editions available for purchasePre-order socials creative strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|12•Using Pathmatics Creative Text Search , we can evaluate which keywords played the largest roles in Starfield’s pre-order strategy •There was a heavy brand focus on Starfield, but also on Elder Scrolls & Skyrim, and Fallout 4 •Game Pass, Xbox, and Steam were also mentioned quite frequently •Less frequently mentioned were gameplay specific mechanicsPre-order word cloud

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|Validating lift with external resources13Using Steam DB you can clearly see the upticks in follower counts on Steam’s game hubAs of mid-August, Starfield reached Steam’s #1 in Wishlists and #6 in Top Sellers Immediately following the pre-order announcement, the followers on Steam spiked from ~200K to above 300K A small but clear bump in followers on Steam was also visible following the O ff icial Gameplay Reveal

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|14•Since 2021, the US accounted for 70% of total estimated ad spend for Starfield on Pathmatics •In 2021 , for the trailer, Starfield ad spend was primarily in the US , with some investment in Canada as well •In 2022 , for the gameplay reveal, Starfield ad spend expanded to include Germany •In 2023 , for the pre-order, Starfield added UK and Italy to their marketing mix as well •For the pre-order strategy, Starfield tested only YouTube for the UK , and only TikTok for Canada International strategies

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|15•Microsof t acquired Bethesda in March 2021 and shortly after announced that Starfield would be included as part of Game Pass •Their creatives heavily featured Game Pass and frequently showed Starfield as a Day One release on Game Pass •Microsoft has been cross-promoting Starfield on Bing creatives recently leading up to release •These creatives show a Bing user asking Bing’s AI-powered search to “Make a Starfield game poster”

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|16•Consumer electronics companie s are also jumping on the Starfield hype-train as we near launch •AMD Gaming, MSI Gaming, CLX Gaming, and NZXT were some of the biggest spenders with co-branding between their hardware and Starfield •Most of the CTAs are to upgrade the viewers hardware in order to prep for the Starfield release •Some brands, like AMD, are offering Starfield Premium Edition with the purchase of specific productsExternal advertisers

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|•Starfield marks Bethesda’s first new IP in 25 years and has been building marketing hype since it was announced in 2018 •This huge upcoming release marks the first major game between Microsoft and Bethesda after their acquisition •During the first major marketing waves, Bethesda focused primarily on YouTube, Reddit, and Twitch and recently starting incorporating major socials like TikTok and Instagram during the pre-order phase •Creatives emphasized Starfield being a Day-1 Game Pass game and pushed various premium editions available for pre-order via landing page links •Starfield has a massive amount of hype, and is currently #1 on Steam Wishlist . External advertisers (including Bing) have been featuring Starfield and running promotions giving out copies with purchasesStarfield pre-launch: Key takeaways© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|17

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|18Starfield Post-launch analysis

2021232426© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|19Launch timeline Launch strategy – spend, impressions, creatives International strategies Launch success & reception Competitive comparison Key takeaways 29

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|20•Starfield had intense competition on both sides of its launch date with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 •Larian Studios originally planned to launch Baldur’s Gate 3’s at the end of August, but moved it up to August 3rd due to the proximity of Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty •Starfield launched in early access on Sept 1st for players who pre-ordered the Premium or Collectors Editions •Players who pre-ordered the Standard Edition and Game Pass subscribers had to wait until Sept 6th to playLaunch timelineBaldur’s Gate 3 LaunchedAug 3 2023Starfield Early AccessSep 1 2023Starfield LaunchedSep 6 2023Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 LaunchedSep 21 2023Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launchedSep 26 2023

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|21•Starfield’s launch window had a dramatic shift in strategy leaning heavily on OTT •During pre-launch, Starfield did not utilize OTT at all, while at launch OTT accounted for over 1/3rd of estimated ad spend •Outside of OTT, Desktop Display and YouTube remained large portions of Starfield’s ad spend •TikTok remained the #1 social channel for Starfield during the launch window Launch strategy – spend & impressions

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|22•Starfield’s strategy continued to focus on 15s-30s videos for their launch window •The contents of the creatives remained the same as the pre-launch videos, however they end with an “Available Now” CTA •The benefits of the Premium Edition are still touted; but no longer state 5 days of early access and focus on other perks (the first expansion, skins, and other digital extras) •The creatives link to a landing page for purchasing Starfield on Bethesda’s site, which provides comparisons of the various editions available for purchaseLaunch creative strategy

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|23•During the pre-launch time frame, the US accounted for 70% of estimated ad spend on Pathmatics •During the launch window, US share accounted grew to 77% of estimated ad spend •The United Kingdom overtook Canada as Starfield’s #2 country at 10.7%, followed by Canada at 8.2% •Starfield’s ad spend in the UK and CA was primarily attributed to YouTube, Desktop Video, and TikTok , followed by Desktop & Mobile DisplayInternational strategies

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|24•According to the announcement from Starfield’s “X” Starfield has surpassed 10M players since launch •This denotes Bethesda’s biggest launch in the company’s history •Starfield’s launch is quite unique for Bethesda, as it was also available day one on Game Pass Launch success

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|25•Starfield’s reviews on Game Pass were mixed , averaging 3.3 out of 5.0 •Starfield launched to mostly positive reviews , with a 72.09% positive rating on Steam •Critics had a more favorable reception of Starfields launch and the aggregated critic score reached 84 on Metacritic •User Scores on Metacritic were significantly lower at a 6.6 average rating out of 10 on Metacritic, which echoes the reviews on Game PassReviews & reception

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|26•Starfield (Microsoft) ranked #2 in PC & Console RPGs in estimated ad spend for 2023 YTD •Hogwarts Legacy (WB) held the #1 rank and Diablo IV (Activision Blizzard) held #3 •Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt) and Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian) launched much closer to Starfield and were ranked #11 and #16 respectively, with dramatically smaller ad spendAd spend – competitive comparisonAdvertiserRankSpendImpressionsWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment1US$32,974,8003,543,403,700Microsoft2US$21,199,1002,171,520,000Activision Blizzard, Inc.3US$19,937,0001,964,360,400Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.4US$17,612,1001,826,583,900miHoYo Co., Ltd.5US$11,093,6001,651,050,300CD Projekt S.A.11US$1,859,400237,449,700Larian16US$1,095,000140,187,900PC & Console RPGs Pathmatics Estimated Ad Spend & Impressions Region: United States / Timeframe: 1/1/2023 – 9/23/2023

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|27•Starfield’s Steam playerbase is considerably lower due to it being available on Game Pass and Xbox •Despite this, Starfield did reach #27 for All-Time Peak Players on Steam during its peak the weekend after release •In comparison, Cyberpunk 2077’s All-Time Peak player count ranks #5 (during the original launch), and Baldur’s Gate 3 comes in at #9 •Cyberpunk 2077 player count surpassed Starfield during their 2.0 version launch, and continued to spike at the launch of their first DLC Phantom LibertySteam launch – competitive comparisonTitleAll-Time RankAll-Time Peak2023 PeakStarfield27330,723330,723Cyberpunk 207751,054,388246,754Baldur’s Gate 39875,343875,343

© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|28•Twitch viewership peaked at early access for Starfield followed by a huge spike in channels at the official launch •The increase in channels broadcasting Starfield at launch did not lead to a dramatic increase in viewership •Starfield viewership continued to decrease steadily post launch and now averages about 14k viewers per day for September •Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3 currently hold higher daily peak viewers than StarfieldTwitch viewership – competitive comparison

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|•Starfield was Bethesda’s biggest launch in company history, with a brand new IP/Universe garnering over 10M players worldwide on PC and Xbox which includes pre-orders, purchases, and Game Pass subscribers •Up against heavy competition in the PC & Console RPG market, Starfield’s launch was sandwiched between the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077’s version 2.0 release and their first DLC Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty •Starfield’s launch marketing strategy shifted significantly from their pre-launch campaigns and focused primarily on OTT , which they had not used in prior campaigns •With years of marketing and hype building up among the playerbase, user reviews came back fairly mixed: 3.3/5 on Game Pass, 6.6/10 on Metacritic, and a 72% positive reviews on SteamStarfield launch: Key takeaways© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|29

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© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|Target areas for improvement using Sensor Tower •Know how competitors are spending, where they’re targeting, and which campaigns stand the test of time •Understand how competitors reach other regions and how much they’re willing to spend to reach them •Make data-driven decisions on your schedule with scoped, tailored, reports delivered when your team needs them •Expand your creative output and better connect with your audiences by having a central place to view competitor creative messaging, imagery, and CTA •Create data-driven competitor mood boards and tailor messages to resonate with your audience •Optimize campaigns equipped with visibility into the activities of your partners. Review relationship and make confident and informed adjustments Our solution Sensor Tower© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|34

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|Target areas for improvement using Pathmatics •Know how competitors are spending, where they’re targeting, and which campaigns stand the test of time •Understand how competitors reach other regions and how much they’re willing to spend to reach them •Make data-driven decisions on your schedule with scoped, tailored, reports delivered when your team needs them •Expand your creative output and better connect with your audiences by having a central place to view competitor creative messaging, imagery, and CTA •Create data-driven competitor mood boards and tailor messages to resonate with your audience •Optimize campaigns equipped with visibility into the activities of your partners. Review relationship and make confident and informed adjustments Our solution Pathmatics© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|35

© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved© 2022 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|© 2023 Sensor Tower Inc. – All Rights Reserved|36This report and all original content contained within are wholly owned by Sensor Tower, Inc. © 2023. Modification, republication, distribution, or other unauthorized usage violate this copyright, unless express permission has been granted. App icons, images, and other branding assets are property of their respective publishers and are used expressly for the purpose of editorial commentary. If you would like to republish any of the data contained in this report, please email info@sensortower.com for further information on how to do so. We’re always happy to work with news organizations to provide custom data, insights and commentary. Contact press@sensortower.com for help. Sensor Tower terms of use