The long-awaited Stellar Blade is almost here, and fans have been overjoyed for one simple reason. Although the game is set to release on April 26th, fans were able to get a glimpse of the game in the form of a free demo.
Available for 28 days prior to the release of the game, the demo lets players explore the world of Stellar Blade first-hand.
The free demo for the PlayStation exclusive was released on March 29th and is going to be available until the launch of the full game.
Stellar Blade Demo is a Massive Hit
AAA games usually tend to keep things hushed up until the last moment until release and then try and bank on the overwhelming anticipation from fans. This is followed by a string of bugs and issues that plague the servers. All the while, the game isn’t even satisfactory. Case in point: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Im really liking this trend of the big AAA releases doing demos a good 3-4 weeks before release
byu/Zepanda66 inPS5
However, Stellar Blade brought back the age-old tradition of releasing demos before a game. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, releasing a demo version was the norm. That was before companies stopped it because it was apparently affecting sales. But fans seem to know the real reason.
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This user on Reddit almost accurately summed up the reaction of fans when someone says stuff like, “Demos hurt sales.”. If anything, a good demo version is likely to boost sales a bit. And fans are correct to think that not releasing a demo is a company’s way of admitting their game isn’t up to the mark.
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So, given the track record of AAA franchises of releasing unplayable iterations on release day and then spending months patching the issues, this fan believes a demo is the “preferable alternative“. Whether the video game companies follow suit is up to them, but if anything, Stellar Blade is showing that a good demo can effectively skyrocket a game’s popularity.
Talking to Pushover, Hyung-Tae Kim said that they included everything in the game that one can do with a blade. Shift Up has also admitted that the studio used Shin Jae-eun, the Korean model, as their inspiration for the character Eve but has used only a part of her body.
Stellar Blade Timeline Since Being Announced
Stellar Blade was first announced as Project Eve, after its protagonist, back on April 4, 2019. It was supposed to be released on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows and was to be developed using Unreal Engine. A new prototype with new gameplay and creative direction was released in 2020.
In 2021, the game was announced to be a PlayStation exclusive, and at the State of Play 2022, the title of the game was announced as Stellar Blade. The game was originally supposed to be released in 2023 but was later delayed.
With the demo of Stellar Blade drawing widespread discussions, both positive and negative, one thing is certain: The anticipation regarding the game has increased more than it originally did. So, this might work as a good case study for other AAA franchises who are wondering whether they should release a demo before the actual release.
What did you think of the Stellar Blade demo? What did you think of the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
