Stellar Blade PC smashes Steam player count expectations, setting records for PlayStation port

PlayStation PC ports haven't always experienced smooth launches. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and The Last of Us Part 1 are two PS5 games that struggled with technical issues. However, the Stellar Blade PC version is off to a stronger start, with fewer reports of disappointing performance. That's likely a factor why the Shift Up title is posting an impressive Steam player count. As it nears 185,000 concurrent users, Stellar Blade is topping every other single-player PlayStation release on PCs.

As noted by the Video Games Chronicle, the only Sony Interactive Entertainment game with higher numbers was Helldivers 2. Still, the multiplayer third-person shooter launched simultaneously on the PC and PS5. Stellar Blade is finding a new audience more than a year after its 2024 PS5 debut. The next closest contender is Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, with a peak Steam player count of 77,154. Other heavyweights trailing Stellar Blade include God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn: Complete Edition.

Furious downloads of the Stellar Blade PC demo released on May 30th foreshadowed the success of the full version. Players on less than top-end systems found more than acceptable frame rates. Gamers with recent hardware can benefit from Nvidia DLSS 4 upscaling to maximize performance. The game offers more graphical options to tweak visuals than the PS5 Pro.

Sony also avoided roadblocks to past PlayStation PC ports by removing region locks. Stellar Blade is available in more areas that typically suffer from PSN restrictions.

The mass approval of Stellar Blade on Steam should only encourage more ports. Even so, Sony seems more reluctant to drop temporary console exclusivity than Microsoft. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei will also launch only on the PS5.