Stellar Blade, the stylish action-adventure that was already generating a lot of attention ahead of its release this month, saw impressive numbers among players downloading and playing its demo. These numbers even surpass those who played the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo on PlayStation 5.
This is all great news for publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, especially as it compares an entirely new intellectual property to a large, established franchise – both targeting the same audience.
Developed by Korean studio Shift Up, the Stellar Blade demo, available since March 29, saw a peak of 690,000 daily active users, which is almost double the 380,000 peak users of the FFVII demo available in February 2021 became.
Image: Ampere analysis
An outstanding demo
The demo numbers come from Ampere Analysis and are a strong positive indicator for the original PlayStation title. If Stellar Blade converts demo users into game buyers at the same rate, Ampere says a huge increase in revenue is expected.
However, a new IP comes with certain limitations that a 37-year-old video game cornerstone might not have. As such, Sony will continue to closely monitor how many of these players convert into actual buyers.
Still, it’s good news for YOU, where another first-party, Foamstars, failed almost immediately after its release in February. The PlayStation exclusive’s player count has dropped 94% since launch.
Stellar Blade also faces the challenge of standing out in the crowded market. The action role-playing game genre is full of titles and the biggest ones produced by Asian studios are doing well commercially. Dragons Dogma 2 hit digital stores last month and Elden Ring’s new DLC is due out later this year. Either would be strong competition, let alone both.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is seeing steady sales despite the ongoing review bombardment from disgruntled gamers unhappy with publisher Capcom over how microtransactions are integrated into the game’s structure. The reaction prompted Capcom to release a survey asking players for their feedback in hopes of gaining good faith.
Elden Ring became FromSoftware’s biggest release of all time in 2022, building on the SoulsBourne genre that it innovated. The title, which has sold 23 million units, has now become fully owned by FromSoftware after From acquired its trademark from original publisher Bandai Namco in February.
Elsewhere, Dragon’s Dogma 2 boasts 2 million monthly active users, according to Ampere Analysis. Rise of the Ronin, which launched during the same time slot in early March, has 1 million MAUs.
Stellar Blade is scheduled to be released on April 26th and is available exclusively for the PlayStation 5.
Featured Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment