Cyberpunk 2077 vs Starfield
Night City's neon storytelling versus Bethesda's endless systems — pick the one that matches how you like to spend 25 hours.
Updated 24d ago
Fixed since 2.0 and worth it at $18 — Night City and the writing carry it, but the build variety is thinner than the skill tree pretends.
Free Lanes finally fixed the space travel — you can cruise between planets now — but the procedural planets and the weak main story are untouched.
By the numbers
Prices checked Sep 11; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Sep 11.
| Measure | Cyberpunk 2077 | Starfield |
|---|---|---|
| Value Starfield wins on value | ||
| Price now | $59.99 Humble Store | $35.99 −28% · Fanatical |
| All-time low | $17.99 | $34.39 |
| Cost / hour | $2.30/hr $59.99 · 26 h main story | $1.51/hr $35.99 · 24 h main story |
| Off its low | +233% low was Jun 2026 | +5% low was Jul 2026 |
| Main story | 26 h | 24 h |
| Health Cyberpunk 2077 wins on player health | ||
| Steam reviews | 87% 979k reviews | 57% 175k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 95% 9k votes · vs 87% lifetime · improving | 62% 418 votes · vs 57% lifetime |
| Peak players | 82,779 Aug 2026 · ↓ 18% MoM | 7,154 Aug 2026 · ↓ 2% MoM |
| Launch peak | 10% of Dec 2020 launch peak · as of Aug 2026 | 2% of Sep 2023 launch peak · as of Aug 2026 |
| All-time peak | 830,387 Dec 2020 | 330,597 Sep 2023 |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 13 months ago | 3 months ago |
| Patch cadence | 0 in last 90 days | 0 in last 90 days |
| Steam Deck | Gold | Gold |
Shared scale — same months across the bottom, same player-count axis up the side, so the two lines are directly comparable. A shorter line means a younger game.
What players say
Patterns from long-haul reviewers, taken from each game's verdict. Not live sentiment — each side is dated below.
Cyberpunk 2077
Long-haul players credit Night City itself: 100-hour reviewers point to the density and the character writing as the reason they finished it twice.
Reviewers past 150 hours flag build sameness — different weapon specialisations end up playing alike, which flattens a second run.
from our July 2026 verdict
Starfield
Long-haul pilots credit the ship builder and the mod scene with carrying exploration well past what the vanilla planets offer.
Reviewers with four-figure hour counts say the handcrafted content thins out fast and repeated points of interest turn planet-scanning into filler.
from our July 2026 verdict
Key differences
Which one is for you?
Pick Cyberpunk 2077 if
- You want a story-driven RPG with a living, detailed city
- You're okay with builds that don't radically change combat feel
- You're buying at a discount — under $1 per hour is easy to justify
Pick Starfield if
- You love tinkering with ship modules and losing hours there
- You're on PC and modding is part of the hobby for you
- You prefer freedom to build characters that play distinctly
Bottom line
If you value narrative and atmosphere over systemic depth, Cyberpunk at $18 is the better deal; if ship-building and build variety are your draws, Starfield's ongoing support makes it worthwhile.