Stellar Blade debuts on Steam with over 192k CCU (best-performing single-player PlayStation Studios release)

Man, being able to play this at 6k via DLDSR + DLAA on top of that on PC at 120fps maxed out really makes the game shine. The IQ is pristine.


Lily in particular almost has a pre-rendered feel to her at times. One of my shots:

4qJm9MK.jpeg
 
Also, if it wasn't apparent already: Sex sells. Maybe the video game industry will finally accept it and embrace it like they did in the past.
 
Poster just said Horizon, not remastered. Spider-Man remake was evidently incorrect or he forgot because there's never been a remake, just a remaster, which is what he probably alluded to. The point is, there have been a lot of bad ports from Sony that took a while to fix. Their releases have been inconsistent in terms of quality at launch.

There have been like 2 bad ports in the nixxes era. So stop it.

The port quality isn't the problem.
 
There have been like 2 bad ports in the nixxes era. So stop it.
You think people care if it started before or after the Nixxes era? You suddenly start moving the goalpost as if the person you responded to ever alluded to this.
The port quality isn't the problem.
It most certainly doesn't help when the ports are hit or miss. Spider-Man 2 was a complete disaster at launch.
 
Last edited:
You think people care if it started before or after the Nixxes era? You suddenly start moving the goalpost as if the person you responded to ever alluded to this.

You always try to put spin on what people say.

My point isn't that they care when it started, but my point is that Nixxes and the team that does the God of War ports have generally done really good work. Nixxes was pretty dynamite with the exception of the Spider-Man 2 port.

So my point is if this was a rule why did it not apply to any of the ports they've done?

It most certainly doesn't help when the ports are hit or miss. Spider-Man 2 was a complete disaster at launch.


I'm sure it doesn't help, I'm just saying this isn't a rule or major factor. I've seen plenty of bad ports sell well and plenty of good ports have average sales.
 
I'm sure it doesn't help, I'm just saying this isn't a rule or major factor. I've seen plenty of bad ports sell well and plenty of good ports have average sales.
Maybe. I've wondered if the notoriously bad reputation of TLOU on PC hurt the sequel, which was a decent port. Ragnarok and FW also did worse than their predecessors though, and they weren't bad part. However, they were also much more polarized than the original entry and the word of mouth over time might have done some damage. TLOU2 was even more polarized though, so hard to tell.
 
Maybe. I've wondered if the notoriously bad reputation of TLOU on PC hurt the sequel, which was a decent port. Ragnarok and FW also did worse than their predecessors though, and they weren't bad part. However, they were also much more polarized than the original entry and the word of mouth over time might have done some damage. TLOU2 was even more polarized though, so hard to tell.

If we're getting into genuine theories here;

I think Stellar Blade being a new IP and obvious goon material and relatively recently released on PC but not being a big seller on PS all factored in.

With steam timing is a huge factor. There's not much in demand on Steam right now. So they've hit a dry period. The game is also doing well especially in Asian countries that are more PC dominant than console (it's doing well elsewhere too but they're the driver).

I don't think reputation or controversy has impacted these games. I think most people who really want them, especially at full price get them on PlayStation and the demand is worked out. These games can sell well throughout their life cycles though on sale. You just don't see them getting high CCUs at launch because people wait for sales for these games they've already waited a long time for. This is where the port quality can play a factor too.

I think it helped that this game had a demo too. TLOUP2 probably should have a demo or give free access to no return mode or something. Similarly God of War Ragnarok could give free access to Valhalla... that would be smart.
 
If we're getting into genuine theories here;

I think Stellar Blade being a new IP and obvious goon material and relatively recently released on PC but not being a big seller on PS all factored in.

With steam timing is a huge factor. There's not much in demand on Steam right now. So they've hit a dry period. The game is also doing well especially in Asian countries that are more PC dominant than console (it's doing well elsewhere too but they're the driver).

I don't think reputation or controversy has impacted these games. I think most people who really want them, especially at full price get them on PlayStation and the demand is worked out. These games can sell well throughout their life cycles though on sale. You just don't see them getting high CCUs at launch because people wait for sales for these games they've already waited a long time for. This is where the port quality can play a factor too.

I think it helped that this game had a demo too. TLOUP2 probably should have a demo or give free access to no return mode or something. Similarly God of War Ragnarok could give free access to Valhalla... that would be smart.
Over the past few hours where it's been the afternoon to night in North America and Europe but where Asia is asleep, it's been doing okay numbers. 40-45K concurrent players. I'm guessing it will peak higher on the weekend, but in the west at least, the numbers don't seem earth-shattering. Not that Asia doesn't matter, they matter just as the rest of us, but it is interesting to see how the demographics can impact the success of a game.

People swear it's an amazing game though. I found the demo average as hell, but maybe it gets better, and the sexy porcelain doll doesn't do much for me if I don't like the game all that much.

Also interesting you mention the demo having a positive impact because I recall a few years ago hearing that so many companies distanced themselves from demos because they perceived them to have a neutral or negative impact on sales. Another understated factor I'd say is also how well it performs on modest hardware. Even an old-ass GTX 1070 can run the game at 60fps and 1080p at medium settings. Around 90% of gaming rigs can run this game whereas we're probably closer to ~50% for most Sony games. I'd need to check to make sure, but eyeballing it is what I get.
 
Last edited:
Over the past few hours where it's been the afternoon to night in North America and Europe but where Asia is asleep, it's been doing okay numbers. 40-45K concurrent players. I'm guessing it will peak higher on the weekend, but in the west at least, the numbers don't seem earth-shattering. Not that Asia doesn't matter, they matter just as the rest of us, but it is interesting to see how the demographics can impact the success of a game.

People swear it's an amazing game though. I found the demo average as hell, but maybe it gets better, and the sexy porcelain doll doesn't do much for me if I don't like the game all that much.

Also interesting you mention the demo having a positive impact because I recall a few years ago hearing that so many companies distanced themselves from demos because they perceived them to have a neutral or negative impact on sales. Another understated factor I'd say is also how well it performs on modest hardware. Even an old-ass GTX 1070 can run the game at 60fps and 1080p at medium settings. Around 90% of gaming rigs can run this game whereas we're probably closer to ~50% for most Sony games. I'd need to check to make sure, but eyeballing it is what I get.

Demos should not negatively impact a game sales unless the demo is staged poorly, the game is poor, or the game runs poor.

More studios need to look at offering free content to attract players and Sony has so much content they could put in there for free. I feel like Valhalla would bring millions of players in just offering it for free. It's a bit spoilery though, but nothing too crazy.

I think the only reason why the East doesn't "count" is because so often there is a disparity in terms of the games that are really successful there and what isn't super successful here.

I'd say we don't count as much to them as they don't count to us. Just like we generally don't care about mobile revenues here on GAF despite it accounting for so much of the industry.

It's also the style of game and the voice support.

I think that if Sucker Punch after Ghost of Yotei did Ghost of Neo Tokyo set in a cyberpunk future post apocalyptic Japan ala Akira, that it would do well across Asia, especially if its the level of fidelity and imagination of Cyberpunk 2077.
 
Salivating on the possibility of two playable characters on SB2, Eve and
Raven
. Hopefully
Raven was awesome and she's definitely coming back either as

A uneasy ally to Eve who would eventually betray her.

A constant rival like the Joker to Batman, Lex to Superman for multiple games even in Stellar Blade 3

A uneasy ally that will redeem herself.

A main character

All those choices seems good to me.
 
Raven was awesome and she's definitely coming back either as

A uneasy ally to Eve who would eventually betray her.

A constant rival like the Joker to Batman, Lex to Superman for multiple games even in Stellar Blade 3

A uneasy ally that will redeem herself.

A main character

All those choices seems good to me.
Or like a Thor and Loki relationship. Cant wait if that happens, an unlikely ally against
mother sphere
 
Last edited:
The combat feel in the last two GOW is better than it's ever been. I also don't think there's any excuse for the combat to feel limp whether it's a character action game or not.

I'm saying gow is more comparable in the sense of the composition of the whole game. As in, how much of the game it has to carry and the audience. Notice my examples were all way different in terms of the actual combat. They were grouped together because of the way the games were filled out as action/adventure games. Nier's combat is pretty shitty by some measures, but it works for the game. GOW's combat is quite good for the type of game it is, but wouldn't cut it for a pure action game.

My critique of Stellar's combat: It was about as good as shift up could make it and I think they knew that. The way the parries are set up puts guardrails around the design, really dumbing it down. Then they were free to fill it out with cool moves and combos, knowing that nothing they threw in there would not be overpowered by the parrying. They know they are not team ninja, and likely know they should not be making a pure action game. On the other hand, maybe it was a happy accident that the gameplay is anchored with the color coded parries and they really do think they're the shit.

It really does make a huuuuge difference if the game is an action game or not. This is why nier automata's combat is shitty and great at the same time. They give you an action game character who is far, far too strong for the enemies in the game. But that's great because the the game is really not about that, and the came needs to be fairly easy for people to see the story through. Few people got done with N:A and complained that the combat was too easy. Or that the balance was non-existent. It serves the game.
 
Man, being able to play this at 6k via DLDSR + DLAA on top of that on PC at 120fps maxed out really makes the game shine. The IQ is pristine.


Lily in particular almost has a pre-rendered feel to her at times. One of my shots:

4qJm9MK.jpeg
Have you tried going framerate unlocked? This is running bizarrely well on my PC, I only have a 1440p screen but I have everything set to max and can literally lock it down to 120fps to keep the graphics card dead silent. Probably one of the best running games in recent years for me. And it's Unreal Engine (???!!!) 🤷‍♂️
 
Peaked at a bit over 188k today. Also sitting at 95% with over 11k reviews. Tomorrow is it's last chance to beat the 200k.
 
Last edited:
The funniest part about the "gooners" critique of this game is it comes exclusively from people who spent weeks drooling over a sex scene with a bear in Baldur's Gate 3.
 
Peaked at a bit over 188k today. Also sitting at 95% with over 11k reviews. Tomorrow is it's last chance to beat the 200k.

if the 10:1 to ratio were to believed, the game has already sold between 1.5-2 million on Steam in the first weekend alone, not bad for AA game
 
192k is more than enough to say it sold 1 million copies on steam alone an din a thir of the time it took ps5. success for sony and shift up....sequel day 1 better come to PC.
 
Game is average as fuck. Why are you even gassing it up aside from culture wars? If it were Ninja Gaiden, I'd be on board, but Stellar Blade is so middling as an action game.

Presentation is beautiful, gameplay is satisfying and the music is incredible. I don't give a shit about the culture wars thing, anyone taking either side of it is stupid. It's just a fun, good looking game with very solid gameplay, interesting story and really amazing visuals. Also, if you like female protagonists, while more common today, there aren't that many games out there.

Personally, it was one of the better games I played the year it came out.
 
Top Bottom