Stellar Blade Demo Out, Both Performance and Quality Modes Deliver Nicely in Early Analysis

Publisher Bohemia Interactive has had a large impact on PC gaming over the past decade or so, with major genre-defining titles like Arma and DayZ to their name. But did you know Bohemia also has another major game it’s currently supporting that’s never been on PC? Initially released back in 2019, the free-to-play Vigor has attracted over 20 million players on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, but it's never been released on PC. Why? Honestly, I don’t know! Obviously, not every game has to come to PC, but Vigor is the type of experience that specifically does well on the platform, so it doesn’t make much sense.

With the recent release of the demo for hack-and-slash action game Stellar Blade, developer Shift Up has taken to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to tell its players to go easy on the game’s demo.

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up, previously known for the likes of Goddess of Victory: Nikke, has repeatedly discussed the challenges of shifting to a more ambitious, current-gen action RPG, especially in a mobile-dominated market like South Korea's. In a new making-of documentary from PlayStation, some of the studio's heads explain in more detail that "many people felt we were out of our mind" for pursuing this project and platform. 

The highly-anticipated PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade is already beating the recently-released RPG Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in terms of one major metric: daily active players for its demo. A new, unproven IP like Stellar Blade gaining higher player counts than a mainline game from an established franchise like Final Fantasy bodes well for the commercial success of the new sci-fi game.

With Shift Up’s Stellar Blade out in two weeks, a new behind-the-scenes video is available discussing the various processes behind development. Director Kim Hyung-tae reveals that its inspiration came from a taxi strike. With the job to be replaced by machines, he pondered what would happen if humanity were replaced.

Shift Up has asked players to “go easy” on the Stellar Blade demo, which is proving to be a hit with players.

Mixing style, action, and fearsome monsters is a familiar formula for success in action games. However, with its first PlayStation title, Stellar Blade, developer Shift Up is adding a lot of unique flair to the equation. A large point of this distinction comes from its creature design, which quickly became a focal element of the upcoming action-adventure experience.

The demo for Korean developer Shift Up’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade is out now – for real this time. The demo was accidentallypushed out early to the PlayStation Store a couple of weeks ago and quickly taken down, but players eager to give the game a spin can now do so without worry.

Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, seems set to be a major entry among the PS5's lineup of exclusives for 2024. It's an original IP, following a character named Eve on a combat-focused adventure in the ruined Earth of a dark future. At first glance, it looks a lot like a game operating in the same mode as, but is also pulling in a bit of 's over-the top flair and a lot of FromSoftware's nail-biting approach to action in

Stellar Blade studio Shift Up has discussed its DLC plans for the upcoming PS5 exclusive.

The Stellar Blade demo input lag that's been troubling a vocal section of the game's fandom since late March can reportedly be fixed by disabling the HDCP option in the PlayStation 5 settings. This was recently discovered by one inquisitive Stellar Blade player after some tinkering.

Shift Up, the South Korean studio responsible for the upcoming Stellar Blade, appears to be hiring for a new project in Unreal Engine.