The release of Stellar Blade on PC has gone better than many had guessed, ending up as the most-played PlayStation single-player game on Steam during launch. It was released on June 11, and the game, made by Korean studio Shift Up, pulled in peak numbers that managed to pass all the previous solo PlayStation titles brought to PC.
According to SteamDB, Stellar Blade hit a peak of 100,904 concurrent players not long after it became available on Steam. That puts it right at the top of the list for single-player PlayStation ports. It passed big names like Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, which had 77,154 players, God of War at 73,529, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered with 66,436, and Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition at 56,557. Only Helldivers 2 had higher, but that game’s multiplayer was released on PC and PlayStation at the same time, so not quite the same.
Image Credits: SteamDB
PC Version Brings More to the Table, Players Seem to Appreciate
The PC edition of Stellar Blade brought with it a bunch of extras that weren’t available on console. Shift Up added support for ultrawide monitors, removed the frame rate limit, included higher-quality texture packs, and gave players more settings to adjust visuals as they like. These changes, together with the already fast-paced combat and flashy art direction, could be a big reason behind the positive response.
Plenty of players have been sharing praise for how well the game runs. Some even pointed out how rare it is to see a big game like this launch without major bugs or crashes. One Steam review said, “In a world full of unoptimised slop, it really is great to see a game run so smoothly.” That kind of feedback shows how much a polished PC version can stand out.
Shift Up’s Confidence in PC Pays Off
Earlier in the year, Shift Up had already said they believed the PC release of Stellar Blade would perform better than the console one. In their February financial report, they talked about how the PC market is bigger in the AAA space now, especially across Asia, and how single-player action titles are growing more popular there. Their choice to really focus on PC development looks like it was the right call.
This strong launch also boosts Sony’s growing strategy for PC publishing, which has been improving over time. Although Sony was slower in the past to put exclusives on Steam, games like Stellar Blade are proving that there’s still strong interest in single-player adventures on PC. The success is also a sign that more and more players outside the PlayStation crowd are being brought into these kinds of games.
Even though it’s only been one day since launch, Stellar Blade has already set a new benchmark, and more records could follow if things stay this way. For Shift Up, this is a huge achievement, not just as a game release, but as proof that the PC platform can push a title further than what was expected.
