Stellar Blade Demo Published Early, Gets Delisted

09.03.2024 - 03:14 / gamerant.com / Josh Tolentino / Sony

A playable demo for the PS5 exclusive action game Stellar Blade was briefly released by Sony via the PSN Store. Unfortunately for those interested in trying Stellar Blade out, the publication was in error, and the demo was quickly delisted after a short period.

Stellar Blade and its attractive character designs have caught attention since the game was announced in 2021 under the «Project Eve» code name. Players attracted to the design of protagonist Eve were later wowed by gameplay reveals that showed off high-quality visuals and smooth combat gameplay that some likened to Bayonetta and other character action pillars. By 2023 and early 2024, Stellar Blade was highly anticipated among PS5 fans, with its coming April 26 release date now seen as a highlight release for the platform.

Fans hungry for a taste of actual Stellar Blade play seemingly got their chance early on March 9, 2024, when a playable demo for Stellar Blade appeared on the North American PSN Store. At the time, it seemed like Shift Up and Sony had «shadow dropped» a demo for the new game, the better to build anticipation a little more than a month out from release. But within an hour of the launch, Sony had quietly removed the ability to download the demo and delisted its product page from the PSN storefront. All that remains are the standard Stellar Blade pre-order page and posts on social media highlighting the accidental publication (and its delisting), such as from Twitter user and deal-hunter Wario64.

Even though Sony was rather quick to rectify its mistaken publication of a Stellar Blade playable demo, some PS5 players were quicker still, managing to download and install the demo before Sony delisted it. Some users began streaming the demo on Twitch, but the streams were taken down shortly after, and various YouTube channels have been uploading footage from the demo. It remains to be seen just how far Sony is willing to go to maintain its publication schedule for Stellar Blade. Some publishers are notorious for setting strict streaming rules, like Atlus did with 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim and Persona 5.

That said, the cat is out of the bag and the Stellar Blade playable demo's existence is irrefutable, though neither Sony nor developer Shift Up have announced an official release date for it. Regardless, this brief saga shows how excited some PS5 fans are about the game. Stellar Blade sits in a crowded quarter for major game releases on PS5, sharing a stretch with exclusive titles like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Rise of the Ronin as well as multiplatform hits like Dragon's Dogma 2, Unicorn Overlord, and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

Stellar Blade is an action-RPG developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The