ReviewDisparity Logo
ReviewDisparity

Critics, outlets, and games against player sentiment

HomeNewsGamesJournalistsOutletsLeaderboardsCompareAbout
Review Signal

Keep the data honest.

ReviewDisparity tracks how critics, outlets, and games compare with player opinion across Steam and Metacritic. The goal is simple: make disagreement visible instead of burying it in scattered scorecards.

Explore
Browse gamesBrowse journalistsBrowse outletsCompare entities
Site
Dataset & methodologyPublishing principlesFAQTerms of ServicePrivacy Policy

© 2026 ReviewDisparity. Independent review disparity tracking.

Data sourced from publicly available information on OpenCritic, Steam, and Metacritic. ReviewDisparity is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of those services.

  1. Home/
  2. Games/
  3. Starbound
Starbound

Starbound

Released: 7/22/2016

Starbound is an extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game in which you take on the role of a character who's just fled from their home planet, only to find themselves lost in space with a damaged ship. Their only option is to beam down to the planet below and begin gathering the resources they need to repair their ship and set off to explore the vast, infinite universe… Use the starmap to travel between star systems, settle down and farm the land, build and colonize a modern metropolis, take on quests to earn a living, or complete story missions to unlock some of the greater galactic mysteries! With lots to do and a near-infinite number of procedurally generated worlds to discover, Starbound allows players to create their own adventures in space.

Starbound is an extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game in which you take on the role of a character who's just fled from their home planet, only to find themselves lost in space with a damaged ship. Their only option is to beam down to the planet below and begin gathering the resources they need to repair their ship and set off to explore the vast, infinite universe… Use the starmap to travel between star systems, settle down and farm the land, build and colonize a modern metropolis, take on quests to earn a living, or complete story missions to unlock some of the greater galactic mysteries! With lots to do and a near-infinite number of procedurally generated worlds to discover, Starbound allows players to create their own adventures in space.

Starbound is an extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game in which you take on the role of a character who's just fled from their home planet, only to find themselves lost in space with a damaged ship. Their only option is to beam down to the planet below and begin gathering the resources they need to repair their ship and set off to explore the vast, infinite universe… Use the starmap to travel between star systems, settle down and farm the land, build and colonize a modern metropolis, take on quests to earn a living, or complete story missions to unlock some of the greater galactic mysteries! With lots to do and a near-infinite number of procedurally generated worlds to discover, Starbound allows players to create their own adventures in space.

Critics
80
Steam
90
Metacritic
73

Score Breakdown

80.1

Critic Average

17 reviews

90

Steam User Score

123,281 reviews

73

Metacritic User Score

599 reviews

Disparity Breakdown

Steam Disparity
-9.8
Metacritic Disparity
+7.1
Combined Disparity
-1.4

Average of both sources

Review Timing

12 launch window (71%)5 late (29%)

Review summary

Updated Aug 30, 2026

Based on 17 scored critic reviews, critics give this game an average score of 80.1/100. Critics score this game 9.8 points lower than Steam users and 7.1 points higher than Metacritic users.

How these comparisons are calculated
Sources behind this summary(5 recent of 17)+
  1. Britt RobertsviaGames Freezer
    Feb 7, 2025·Late review
    90/100View review
    Steam 90.0/100 · +0.1 ptsMetacritic 73/100 · +17.0 pts
  2. Luis AlvaroviaEntertainment Geekly
    Jan 31, 2025·Late review
    60/100View review
    Steam 90.0/100 · -29.9 ptsMetacritic 73/100 · -13.0 pts
  3. Katerina AmidanoviaMinimap
    Nov 26, 2024·Late review
    60/100View review
    Steam 90.0/100 · -29.9 ptsMetacritic 73/100 · -13.0 pts
  4. Kinglink Reviews StaffviaKinglink Reviews
    Jul 1, 2018·Late review
    40/100View review
    Steam 90.0/100 · -50.0 ptsMetacritic 73/100 · -33.0 pts
  5. Carlo CicaleseviaEveryeye.it
    Oct 23, 2016·Late review
    82/100View review
    Steam 90.0/100 · -8.0 ptsMetacritic 73/100 · +9.0 pts