Stellar Blade developer Shift Up Corporation has warned players to go easy on the demo amidst fears they’ll ruin the main game experience for themselves. As demo progress carries over to the main game, players have been leveling up their skills and unlocking additional combos to get a head start when the game is released later this month.
Some Stellar Blade players have spent over 50 hours in the demo
According to a Tweet from the developer, some players have spent more than 50 hours in the Stellar Blade demo. One of those is Twitter user SuperAndroid, who stated that he was “currently sitting at 83 hours of demo gameplay.” Another is Shadowself, who has “73h and counting.”
The demo starts at the very beginning of the game and lasts up until the first boss fight. Along the way, tutorials introduce the combat mechanics that are the feature that have kept players returning to the demo. Those who complete the demo will also get “a surprise” when they transfer their data over to the full game.
Player reactions to the developer’s plea to go easy on the Stellar Blade demo have been mixed. Several Redditors have said they feel like grinding out skills would spoil the main game. On the other hand, HeroDeGames said they “genuinely feel like the sooner I can unlock sick combos and beef up my skills the more fun the already amazing combat will be.” Jazzpha103188 also wants to be able to use skills like parry and dodge counterattack moves “from the jump.”
The demo’s popularity has surprised many people. Ampere Analysis said Stellar Blade’s daily active users peaked at around 690,000, which is significantly more than that managed by the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo at 380,000. The game was also the most preordered game on the PlayStation Store last week, beating Sea of Thieves, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.
Shift Up Corporation announced that Stellar Blade had gone gold earlier this week, ahead of its PS5-exclusive release on April 26.