Stellar Blade fans asked to ‘go easy’ on its demo, which is almost twice as popular as FF7 Rebirth’s

Shift Up has asked players to “go easy” on the Stellar Blade demo, which is proving to be a hit with players.

A demo for the PS5 exclusive launched last month, ahead of the game’s release on April 26.

“We’re so grateful for your love of our game. To enjoy the main game properly though, please go easy on the demo,” Stellar Blade said. “50+ hours of demo play… we’re scared!”

According to market research firm Ampere Analysis, the demo has been popular, attracting a peak of 690,000 daily active user. In comparison, the demo for fellow PS5 exclusive Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth drew a peak of 380,000 daily active users.

Square Enix‘s game went on to attract about 2.2 million daily active players when it was released.

“The hype surrounding Stellar Blade – largely focused on its character models – may have resulted in inflated interest in the demo, and the rate of conversion to paying, launch users could fall short of what we have seen for its competitors,” said Louise Wooldridge, Ampere’s research manager for games.

“Despite some similarities in genre, style, and therefore potential audience, Stellar Blade and FFVII Rebirth represent quite different commercial cases.

“FFVII Rebirth is based on an established classic with a deep-rooted fandom – plus, it is a sequel, rather than a standalone game. It is therefore unlikely that quite as many demo players were drawn simply by curiosity or hype, and conversion in that case is likely to be more predictable, and hearty.

“Stellar Blade, on the other hand, is a brand-new IP with no pre-existing fandom, making its performance a great deal more difficult to project.”

Shift Up recently discussed its plans for Stellar Blade DLC. In an interview with South Korean site Ruliweb, CEO and Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung Tae said the title will receive a New Game Plus mode post-release.

Free updates will also include costume bundles for protagonist Eve, adding to the 30 outfits available in the base game, which is being published by Sony.

Kim Hyung Tae stressed that the third-person action game won’t include any microtransactions at release.

“We would like to make it clear here that Stellar Blade does not require any additional expenses that gamers are not aware of other than the cost of purchasing the package,” he said.