Close to 700k players downloaded the Stellar Blade demo and sliced aliens apart as Eve on PS5. The demo was launched at the end of March and since, has peaked at 690,000 players. To put this into comparison, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which got a demo a month prior, struggled to reach a peak player count of 380,000 during its first week of launch.
Keep in mind that there are various factors involved here which may have led to this lower player count. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a JRPG and likely more niche than Stellar Blade. Fans of the series also likely avoided the demo in order to jump straight into the full game without spoilers.
Stellar Blade, on the other hand, is a blockbuster new IP which is likely to attract gamers from all genres as it blends soulslike combat with an action RPG gameplay style.
According to Ampere, Stellar Blade’s demo popularity is also thanks to the game’s protagonist who has recently made news due to her in-game model.
Stats show that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth peaked at 2.21 million players on PS5 at its prime. If the Stellar Blade demo and Rebirth Demo player count is anything to go off, Sony’s new exclusive may hit 4 million players. However, that all depends on how the reviews come in. The embargo was recently revealed to be 24 April and depending on critic feedback, will depend on how well this game sells.
Still, 690k players for a demo is nothing to look over. Whether the bulk of these players ended up pre-ordering the game is still unknown.
Stellar Blade launches on 26 April for PS5. Check out our pre-order guide for the game here and catch up on the two different game versions and pre-order incentives.
Source: Ampere
