Stellar Blade will release on PC on 11th June, but its availability on Steam has been blocked in over 120 countries, surprising even the game’s developer.
Shift Up shared news of the release on social media, but a number of fans responded with Steam screenshots showing the game is unavailable in their region. Shift Up responded to confirm the PC version does not require a PSN account and appeared surprised in the replies at the games unavailability.
Checking SteamDB, it appears Stellar Blade has been restricted in over 120 countries. Most of these are where Sony’s PSN is unavailable.
Helldivers 2 was review-bombed last year following a PSN requirement, which led to the game being pulled from sale in 177 countries. The company quickly u-turned its decision following the backlash.
It would appear Stellar Blade is experiencing a similar issue, although Shift Up has stated a PSN account is not required. However, a free bonus costume will be offered when a PSN account is linked to Steam.
Eurogamer has contacted Sony for clarification.
The Steam listing does state that Denuvo has been incorporated, much to the annoyance of some fans.
News of Stellar Blade’s PC release date leaked earlier in the week, but has now been confirmed on the PlayStation Blog. What’s more, Sony has confirmed its additional content will also be available on PS5 as a free update.
Below are the PC specs for Stellar Blade:
| Minimum | Recommended | High | Very High | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg Performance | 1080P @ 60FPS | 1440P @ 60FPS | 1440P @ 60FPS | 4K @ 60FPS |
| Presets | Low | Medium | High | Very High |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7600K
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X |
Intel Core i5-8400
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
Intel Core i5-8400
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
Intel Core i5-8400
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT |
| RAM | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 75GB HDD
(SSD Recommended) |
75GB SSD | 75GB SSD | 75GB SSD |
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |
Shift Up stated in a financial report from February it expects the PC version to exceed console sales.
“In the AAA game market, PC devices have a higher market share than consoles, so we expect the performance of the PC version to exceed that of the console version,” the company said. “We are particularly observing trends such as the significant expansion of the single-player action game market in the Asian gaming industry.”