With so many live-service aspects, we often tend to forget that Stellar Blade a narrative-driven single-player game.

Although Stellar Blade provides a range of experiences, one thing is certain— the game’s core combat will be a huge hit if you like fast-paced melee combat. With the help of her friends Adam and Lily, Eve, the main character, is equipped with a variety of fighting techniques to take on the Naytiba, foes she will regularly face.

Stellar Blade was released on April 26, 2024, only on the PS5. | Credit: Shift Up.

Even though the game’s plot is primarily linear, there is still a lot of room for exploration in the different areas you will pass through. Like many Soulslike and character action games, this title takes a while to get going, but this slow pacing is actually in its favor.

Seeing all these, you might wonder if this game is a single-player title. But with the efforts from Shift Up, you might think of it as a live-service title.

Stellar Blade is a single-player game trapped in a live-service world

Stellar Blade is actually a single-player game, having an end to its story. | Credit: Shift Up.

In April 2024, Stellar Blade was launched, and it was well received and sold well on the PlayStation 5, except if you have forgotten the controversy regarding Eve’s costume. Since then, fans all across the world have continued to think about it, and developer Shift Up has been working hard to keep the content stream comparatively strong.

Stellar Blade hasn’t been forgotten yet, with updates with a holiday theme and a Nier crossover event. However, all of these look a bit odd as this popular game is actually a narrative-driven single-player title. It features many aspects of a live-service title and even the developers themselves acknowledged it in its latest financial report:

Despite being a narrative-based single-player game with a defined ending, it has been continuously updated like a live-service game and has steadily built a strong global fandom for the Stellar Blade IP.

However, turns out the continuous live-service-like updates went in favor of the company as Stellar Blade was an influential part of the company, securing record-high revenue streams in 2024. The post-apocalyptic action game “continues to sell well,” according to the financial update, and brought in $43.2 million in royalties.

Shift Up previously declared that it had sold over a million copies of Stellar Blade in its first few months of release, but it has not disclosed any additional sales figures since then. Consequently, Shift Up has now achieved its highest yearly revenue, up 30% from the previous year.

Shift Up has high hopes regarding Stellar Blade‘s upcoming ports

Stellar Blade is expected to be a bigger hit on PC. | Credit: Shift Up.

The company stated the investors in its most recent earnings report that it anticipates the PC version of Stellar Blade to surpass the console (PS5) version in terms of sales. Additionally, when the PC version is released, they hope to add new features to it.

The “additional content” that players can anticipate—though its exact nature was not disclosed—includes PC and Steam Deck optimization, which should result in improved graphics. As per the company:

We have identified and analyzed both successful and underperforming cases of console exclusives released on PC, and we are preparing to release the game in a way that ensures continued success in the PC market. This will include optimization, enhancing user convenience, adding supplementary content, and tailored marketing strategies unique to Shift Up. In particular, we plan to optimize the game to ensure smooth gameplay even in UMPC environments.

Additionally, special consideration is given to how the game will be optimized for “UMPC,” an old term for gaming handhelds such as the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally.

When it comes to major game releases, handheld owners sometimes feel like second-class citizens, even with the success of the Steam Deck in particular. It’s encouraging to hear a developer promoting handhelds in this way as a priority rather than an afterthought, even though there are hardware limitations.

Although Shift Up made no mention of it, any new content is anticipated to be released as a title update on the PS5. Stellar Blade‘s PC debut has not yet been given a release date or time frame, but we anticipate hearing about it soon.