Avowed vs Starfield
Handcrafted fantasy lore versus procedural space sandbox — both reward exploration, but one respects your time.
Updated 11d ago
Dual-wielding a wand and a flintlock is genuinely great — but the open world is empty and the choices never branch, so it misses the Obsidian reactivity you came for.
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 Aug 7; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Aug 7.
| Measure | Avowed | Starfield |
|---|---|---|
| Value Avowed wins on value | ||
| Price now | $29.99 −40% · Steam | $34.39 −31% · GreenManGaming |
| All-time low | $29.99 | $34.39 |
| Cost / hour | $1.49/hr $29.99 · 20 h main story | $1.44/hr $34.39 · 24 h main story |
| Off its low | At its low low was Jun 2026 | At its low low was Jul 2026 |
| Main story | 20 h | 24 h |
| Health Avowed wins on player health | ||
| Steam reviews | 77% 13k reviews | 57% 175k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 72% 242 votes · vs 77% lifetime | 63% 396 votes · vs 57% lifetime · improving |
| Peak players | 1,007 Jul 2026 · ↑ 16% MoM | 7,294 Jul 2026 · ↓ 8% MoM |
| Launch peak | 5% of Feb 2025 launch peak · as of Jul 2026 | 2% of Sep 2023 launch peak · as of Jul 2026 |
| All-time peak | 19,161 Feb 2025 | 330,597 Sep 2023 |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 5 months ago | 8 weeks ago |
| Patch cadence | 0 in last 90 days | 2 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.
Avowed
The combat's magic toolkit — dual-wielding wands, guns, and swords with flashy spells — keeps long-haul players coming back.
The open world feels big for no reason, and choices don't matter, leaving progression gated and exploration unrewarding for many 100-hour vets.
from our August 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 Avowed if
- You came to RPGs through Pillars of Eternity or New Vegas writing
- You prefer a ~35-hour campaign over a 200-hour sandbox
- You want first-person fantasy combat that isn't Souls-paced
Pick Starfield if
- Ship building is your primary draw — you love tweaking modules
- You enjoy Bethesda's pick-up-quest, over-encumbered loop
- You play on PC and welcome mods as part of the experience
Bottom line
Choose Avowed for a tight, lore-rich RPG with deliberate world design; pick Starfield if you crave a sprawling space sandbox and don't mind procedural repetition.