PS Plus Premium subscribers can play a big chunk of Stellar Blade for free right now. The game already has a demo on the PS Store, the progress from which carries over. Add to that the current game trial, and players have plenty to get their hands on.

How to play several hours of Stellar Blade for free

The PS Plus Premium game trial is two hours long. Before starting the trial, you can check out the demo and carry your progress over. The demo itself is about an hour long. Should you purchase the full game, everything from both the demo and trial will carry over.

Stellar Blade’s main story takes about 20-22 hours to beat, but those who want to dabble into side quests will be spending about 40 hours. We do recommend getting those side quests done if you purchase the full game because Stellar Blade’s bosses aren’t exactly pushovers.

Stellar Blade is also currently part of the PlayStation Stars rewards program. Unfortunately, however, PlayStation Stars has been offline for about a week, so if you want to redeem your points towards the game, you’ll have to wait. Sony has acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix.

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Stellar Blade has unquestionably been a success for developer Shift Up and publisher Sony. According to market analysts, the action-adventure game is now one of the year’s best-selling games.

Stellar Blade was April’s best-selling game

“Stellar Blade debuted as the best-selling premium game of April and the #16 best-selling game of 2024 year-to-date,” said Mat Piscatella from data analytics company Circana. “Stellar Blade was the only new release in April to rank among the month’s top 20 best-selling premium video games.” Shift Up released the action-adventure game as a PlayStation 5 exclusive on April 26.

Helldivers 2, another Sony-published title, retained its position as the month’s second-best-selling game. Meanwhile, Call of Duty Modern Warfare III rose from 4th to 3rd, with Sea of Thieves and Fallout 4 jumping from #55 and #87 to #4 and #5. Sea of Thieves PS5 port launched on April 30, explaining its sudden jump in popularity. Meanwhile, Fallout 4’s revival can be attributed to the success of the recent Amazon Prime show.

MLB The Show 24 dropped from 3rd to 6th, with Dragon’s Dogma 2 dropping from #1 to #7. It’s followed by Fallout 76, which also rode the Amazon bump all the way from #159 up to #8. Finally, Hogwarts Legacy rose slightly from #10 to #9, with EA Sports FC 24 rising from #12 to #10. Other notable changes include Rise of the Ronin falling from #5 to #11 and Princess Peach Showtime dropping from #6 to #15.

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Folks who’ve racked up enough PlayStation Stars points can now exchange those points for a digital copy of Stellar Blade. Sony’s loyalty program gets overlooked, but the company has quietly been improving its reward offers, having recently added Rise of the Ronin and Helldivers 2 to the list.

How to redeem PlayStation Stars points for Stellar Blade

As spotted by Reddit user kuro_snow, Stellar Blade can now be yours if you’ve collected 17,500 points. This is the same amount you need for Rise of the Ronin. Helldivers 2 is a tad cheaper, available for 10,000 points.

As explained previously, this isn’t a discount offer. Players who sign up for PS Stars — which is free — rack up points for various activities including making purchases from PS Store. Those points can then be redeemed for various rewards including PS Store credit. You get $20 PSN credit for 5,000 points, so quick math tells us that Stellar Blade still comes up to $70.

PlayStation Stars points simply come in handy for those who often buy their games digitally via the PS Store and have plenty of points racked up. It’s always useful to claim store credit to use on any game you want.

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Stellar Blade got a new update yesterday, but there was an addition that was barely mentioned in the patch notes. Developer SHIFT UP has quietly added two new skimpy Midsummer outfits to Stellar Blade, possibly in a bid to quell the player outrage following perceived censorship when the game launched on PS5 at the end of April.

How to unlock the new Stellar Blade Midsummer outfits

The new Midsummer Redhood and Midsummer Alice outfits can be bought and crafted from Roxanne at the R Shop. As noticed by Twitter user @DENGOJIN, the outfits seem to be inspired by the original Holiday Rabbit and Cybernetic Bondage outfits for Eve. These two outfits were modified in version 1.002 to show less skin when Eve was wearing them.

Many players had accused SHIFT UP of censorship following the decision to change the design of the Holiday Rabbit and Cybernetic Bondage suits. However, the developer’s CEO Hyung Tae-Kim insists the updated version of the two outfits were always intended to be their final version. The outfits to which players grew attached in the successful demo were going to be changed anyway.

In the same statement, Tae-Kim revealed the studio was having an internal discussion as to how to address the resulting controversy. The result of those discussions seems to be the introduction of the new Midsummer outfits with update 1.003. The outfits weren’t mentioned outright in the patch notes, simply being referred to as “a small gift for all of you” from Roxanne.

Update 1.003 also added three more outfits: two Kunoichi suits that can be found at Adam’s Safehouse and a Neurolink Suit. The latter can be obtained by beating all of the bosses in the brand-new Boss Challenge mode. As well as the new content, the update fixed bugs like unplayable sections and glitched trophies.

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Developer Shift Up announces that Stellar Blade’s 1.003 update launches on May 24. The update goes live at 3:00 AM Eastern/Midnight Pacific and introduces a new Boss Challenge Mode and three new Nano outfits. The update also adds a special gift that players can collect from Roxanne.

Stellar Blade gets Boss Challenge mode and three new outfits

Shift Up revealed an abbreviated version of the patch notes on Twitter, with further details in a PlayStation Blog post. Stellar Blade Update 1.003 does the following when it goes live on Friday:

• Added a new ‘Boss Challenge’ mode.
  • Replay against defeated bosses in multiple settings.
  • Unlock a new costume, ‘Neurolink Suit,’ by defeating all bosses in the new ‘Boss Challenge’ mode.
• Two new outfits from the “Kunoichi” series can be obtained at Adam’s safehouse. 
• Fixed bugs such as unplayable sections, events not triggering, and trophies not being awarded.
• Quality-of-life improvements
  • Added an auto-lock-on option when exiting ranged mode.
  • Added option to always show the compass in HUD.
  • Slightly increased the time limit for puzzles.
• Many other improvements have been made to the controls, balance, and more.
• Roxanne has prepared a small gift for all of you.

Stellar Blade players unlock bosses for the Boss Challenge mode by defeating them in the main game. They can challenge the bosses with their current equipment or use one of several presets. The Minimum preset makes for a more challenging experience, while the Maximum preset buffs Eve’s skills for a more spectacular fight. Players must complete it in Normal difficulty or higher to unlock Eve’s red and white Neurolink Suit.

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Stellar Blade developer Shift Up is looking into the possibility of a PC port and eventual sequel in response to its success on PlayStation 5. The studio also revealed the codename of its previously announced new IP, Project Witches.

Shift Up is looking into a Stellar Blade PC port and sequel

Shift Up discussed all three games in a recent financial filing, Gematsu reported. “Beyond Stellar Blade,” the report reads, “we are developing a new [intellectual property]-based game, Project Witches, for release in 2027 or later, and are considering a PC version of Stellar Blade and a sequel. We believe that our ability to develop new [intellectual properties] that can be successful without relying on existing [intellectual properties] will enable us to grow sustainably compared to other game companies that are locked into existing [intellectual properties].”

Shift Up further discusses the potential for a PC port later in the document. This includes listing it alongside plans for DLC, new gameplay features, and crossover collaborations. The document later discusses the benefits of a PC port and sequel, citing franchises like God of War and Final Fantasy as precedents. “As a result,” it reads, “we are exploring the possibility of a PC version of Stellar Blade and a sequel.”

As for Project Witches, the game is still in early development, with Shift Up expecting it to launch in 2027 or later. Coming to PC, consoles, and mobile, Shift Up describes it as a “major subculture IP.” The Stellar Blade developer compares it to games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Fate/Grand Order, and Goddess of Victory: Nikke.

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Sony and Shift Up have yet to reveal Stellar Blade launch sales, but the game was Japan’s best-selling new disc release for a fortnight ending May 5. Additionally, Stellar Blade beat Microsoft’s Sea of Thieves to settle for the second most downloaded game in PlayStation Store’s U.S. chart.

Stellar Blade digital sales couldn’t beat Sea of Thieves in Europe

The Japanese sales chart comes to us courtesy of Famitsu (via Gematsu). During the period starting April 22 and ending May 5, Stellar Blade shifted 67,131 copies at retail — not bad for Shift Up’s PS5 debut. That said, Famitsu’s report confirms that Stellar Blade’s physical copies selling out in Japan had more to do with a short supply rather than gangbusters sales.

As for the PS download charts, Sony revealed that Helldivers 2 still reigns supreme in North America, where it held on to the top spot in the digital chart. Stellar Blade debuted in second position and Sea of Thieves settled for the third spot.

European players didn’t seem too keen to download Stellar Blade, though. Sea of Thieves topped PS Store chart in the region, followed by GTA V and Helldivers 2. Stellar Blade settled for fourth position.

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Stellar Blade sales are apparently off to a great start…. in Japan, at least. Reports from the country suggest that the game is selling out in major stores and restricted to one copy per customer. Sony and Shift Up have yet to comment on the game’s launch sales.

Stellar Blade in Japan: a case of soaring sales or low stock?

X user Genki_JPN first pointed out the unusual sight of Bic Camera in Akihabara restricting Stellar Blade copies to one per customer. Quote tweeting his post, Japan-based analyst Dr Serkan Toto of Kantan Games posted a photo of Bic Camera near Chiba, where Stellar Blade was sold out over the weekend. He added that he personally saw the game sold out in “several” stores across Tokyo over the last few days.

In a separate tweet, Dr Toto said that this is a rare case when it comes to blockbusters unless they are in extremely high demand, like a mainline Pokemon game. Smaller, niche games tend to “sell out” because of low stock.

Considering Stellar Blade is a AAA game that Sony had been hyping up ahead of release, we’ll be surprised if the game selling out in Japan is down to supply issues. After all, Stellar Blade is one of PS5’s highest-rated games by user score.

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Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim has said that he’s “very satisfied” with Stellar Blade critic review scores on Metacritic and Open Critic. This is Kim’s first statement on the PS5 exclusive’s reception, which surprised many. Stellar Blade also boasts universal acclaim on Metacritic based on user ratings.

Shift Up CEO ‘motivated’ by Stellar Blade review scores

In a post launch interview with Korean outlet Nate, Kim was quizzed about Stellar Blade’s ratings. The game currently holds a critic average of 82/100 on Metacritic and 84/100 on Open Critic.

“I am very satisfied with the score,” Kim responded, adding that there are a number of high-profile games that have received similar scores or even less. “I am motivated by the fact that leading games have received similar or lower scores, and that there is room for further improvement,” he continued.

Kim said that Shift Up won’t shy away from making such games in the future, with hopes of growing further. But when it comes to Stellar Blade, it remains to be seen whether the game’s performance will satisfy publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment or not. Sony’s indie boss Shuhei Yoshida was the driving force behind nabbing Stellar Blade as a PS5 exclusive.

Kim previously said that Stellar Blade’s commercial performance will determine whether it gets a sequel or not.

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Shift Up has said that it currently has no plans for Stellar Blade DLC, but it’s working on a Boss Rush mode. The studio previously said that it will release cosmetic add-ons post launch, but it hasn’t yet decided whether it’ll expand Stellar Blade’s story or other content.

Stellar Blade will get costume DLC in the future

Earlier last month, Shift Up confirmed that it plans to release more costume DLC for Stellar Blade. However, it didn’t provide an ETA for the add-ons. As for story DLC or expansions, studio CEO Hyung-Tae Kim told Korean outlet Nate (via GamesRadar) that he doesn’t have anything planned right now. Stellar Blade’s Boss Rush mode has yet to be dated as well.

Elsewhere in the interview, Kim said that Shift Up’s DNA is “throwing fastballs that gamers will like.” He’s of the view that the games industry is quite diverse, and there’s still room for developers like Shift Up who keep things simple and straightforward.

“As we live in an era of diversity, I think there should be developers who throw straight pitches like us,” Kim said. He added that he is “enjoying seeing the comments made by gamers after the launch” despite the goofy “censorship” controversy Stellar Blade ran into.

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