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[xrnzaaas]

The game will definitely sell better after some price drops. Charging 80€ for any new IP is a risky move.

 

[Tsaki]

Here's to the next milly

 

[Madflavor]

The best takeaway here is that the game was better than people expected and it seems like it's built itself a solid fanbase. I can only assume when Stellar Blade 2 gets made that it'll likely perform even better.

 

[Moriarty1889]

Surprised it didn’t sell more than that at this point tbh. I did my part and picked it up day one. Still playing and enjoying it very much. Hope we get a sequel.

 

[Astral Dog]

You realize character action games don't do gangbuster numbers right? DMC is pretty much the only exception.

For comparison Bayonetta 3 took around 2-3 months to reach 1 million sales. We're talking about an established IP with a bigger fanbase, on a system that has a MUCH bigger installbase than the PS5. Compare that to Stellar Blade, and the game has done very well all things considered. It's not a "victory for woke", it's how it is with this genre.

If you want examples of games that sell a shit ton of copies, and have beautiful sexy ass women in it, just take a look at any Capcom game that has release in the past 5 years.

tbf with Bayonetta the series fanbase is divided, a big part will never buy a Nintendo to play the newer games they hate it, they basically had to reboot the fanbase since Bayonetta 2

comparing Bayonetta 3 numbers that was released on a platform not known for selling action games (until very recently) , to Stellar Blade released on PlayStation a popular platform for action games(if not THE platform for action games) im surprised the launch numbers turned out so similar, i was hoping Stellar Blade sold a bit more.

then Nier Automata managed to sell 6M, maybe its the open world
That said these are $70 launch numbers, and the reception is positive once the price is cut i think it should reach 2 Million without problem

 

[Goalus]

So did it beat Forspoken?

 

[Strategize]

Sexiness in media just doesn't sell like it used to anymore, porn too accessible.

 

[Brigandier]

It deserved to sell much more than that.... forget a sequel with them numbers.

 

[MikeM]

I was waiting for PC but may just buy on PS…

 

[MALpractice311]

This isn't a souls like though is it?

It's not, but it clearly takes some inspiration. The best way I can describe it is that it's a combination of a traditional Japanese character action game and Sekiro. I'll try to find my demo impressions and repost them here.

 

[nial]

To be fair, we found out quite a bit after release that former Japan Studio devs put in quite a bit of work to make the game look/run better than ShiftUp could have probably done on its own, on their first attempt.

Well, as I've said here before, you had three producers from SIEJ who managed the project; Junho Lee (first professional role at the company, even) Kazuma Kizuka and Edward Saito, who also produced Rise of the Ronin. And of course, several more staff as well.

It was probably a net good to partner up with Sony to get the extra marketing/know-how, but yea I could see them looking at a multiplatform launch for their next game. I mean it's basically the way the industry is headed for all devs/publishers anyways.

Interesting. Not likely to see them sign a deal again I'm guessing.

While everything is possible, I think we should not see this as a FFVII Rebirth situation, but rather a simple publisher/developer relationship.
Let me put it this way, the reason why developers may choose to collaborate with platform holders instead of multiplat publishers is due to their established closeness with these companies after, say, working on different projects in the past. They already know how these operate, the people which help them to create the games, several factors in the same vein. Plus, most of the time, the publisher is the most likely one to opt to not collaborate again with the developer.
Going far into the topic, there aren't really many pubs producing AAA console SP Korean games, and SIE is pretty much the only one outside of SK (others like Yostar only produce mobile games). If we're suggesting Neowiz or Pearl Abyss, it would be kinda funny since both of these (and Com2uS and NCSoft, the latter which was also officially announced) are apparently also working with SIE.

 

[MALpractice311]

It's not, but it clearly takes some inspiration. The best way I can describe it is that it's a combination of a traditional Japanese character action game and Sekiro. I'll try to find my demo impressions and repost them here.

To me, the best way I can describe it is a more forgiving Sekiro. Deflecting is the best way to deal with larger enemies and bosses, but the timing to press the deflect button feels a bit earlier than Sekiro, Lies of P, or Jedi Survivor/Fallen Order. Enemy damage is also much less than Sekiro.

Trash mobs can be hacked and slashed to death quite easily, but anything that is as tall or taller than Eve should be treated like a Sekiro enemy and you should be attempting to deflect regular strikes to eventually reduce their posture and open them up to critical attacks. You don't HAVE to, but it feels like that is the developers' intention. Also, reducing enemy posture is also more forgiving than Sekiro, in that enemy posture does not regenerate in Stellar Blade. Enemy posture bars are a set number of deflects.

Red attacks indicate an enemy is about to do a combo and you have a chance to do multiple deflects.

Blue attacks are Mikiri countered (hold forward and press dodge), to use the Sekiro terminology, once you unlock the Mikiri counter equivalent.

Purple attacks are reverse Mikiri countered (hold backward and press dodge) once you unlock that skill.

Yellow attacks are perilous attacks, again to use the Sekiro terminology, and cannot be deflected. They must be jumped or dodged.

I haven't seen any air juggling yet. And I don't think we will. Game seems very grounded.

 

[Madflavor]

It deserved to sell much more than that.... forget a sequel with them numbers.

What? 1 million copies is good. This ain’t a giant open world game with a hundred million dollar budget. They already reported earning $15.8 million in royalties:

Shift Up estimates that Stellar Blade sold over 1 million copies, generating $15.8 million in royalties | Game World Observer

Shift Up has revealed the first data on its recent PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade. The South Korean company considers the game successful based on its commercial performance.

gameworldobserver.com

It’s nothing but profit from here out. A sequel is happening, as well as their other RPG they’re working on.

 

[Moriarty1889]

It deserved to sell much more than that.... forget a sequel with them numbers.

I believe they said they would make a sequel as well as some other game they would be creating.

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

So...is 1M good or bad in this case?

I bought the game but haven't started it yet.

 

[Madflavor]

So...is 1M good or bad in this case?

I bought the game but haven't started it yet.

It’s good. Game had a moderate budget, and the Director said his aim was to create a strong new IP and start building a fan base. Profit wasn’t his main goal, because they make serious bank from Nikke already. But in terms of profit, they’re claiming they’ve already got paid $15.8 million in royalties.

 

[Reaseru]

DLC, uh? Give me Tachy's sideline story, Shift Up.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

One has to wonder, does the number of women the game is responsible for killing scale with sales numbers?

And does it stack? If I equip two copies at the checkout lane at Best Buy, do two female employees instantly hurl themselves into the trash compactor?

 

[Moriarty1889]

And does it stack? If I equip two copies at the checkout lane at Best Buy, do two female employees instantly hurl themselves into the trash compactor?

If they have pink or blue hair they just might my friend lol.

 

[the_master]

These are small numbers for a game so big though. I really hope it sells more like 5 million.

If devs got 50$ per game sold (they probably get way less) That’d be 50 million $

How much did the game cost and how much spent in marketing?

 

[Humdinger]

Sounds good although not stellar (ha). It's enough to deem it a success. I didn't pick it up, because I get the impression that the gameplay (Souls-like or whatever) wouldn't suit me. Still, I'm glad to see it do well, because they dared to have not just an attractive but an obviously sexed-up female lead. I'm too old to get my rocks off on something like that, but I do appreciate them running counter to the modern trend in Western game design. I may give it a whirl when it reaches $40 or so.

 

[Black_Stride]

It is released as a PS5 exclusive, but the number of PS5 units and activation level has not been as high as that of PS4. And recently, the main consumer base for AAA games is moving to PC. “We are currently reviewing the PC version of Stella Blade, and we expect that the IP value will increase once more when the PC version is released.

Good good........DO IT!!!!

It deserved to sell much more than that.... forget a sequel with them numbers.

I take it you are a Square-Enix executive........................for a game this small releasing on a single platform to push 1 million this quickly, these guys must be swimming in it.
This is a massive massive success.
Square-Enix executives expect every game to do 10 - 15 million units before it can be considered a success.
Thats not how that works......thats not how anything works.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

well we all know that tits and ass sells to thirsty gamers

these are measly sales. screams limited market.

 

[JayK47]

That seems low for this game. I would have it if I were in possession of a PS5. Definitely will grab this for PC.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I mean I would have guessed 2-3 million but no one knows what the original expectations were for this game

How did Lies of P sell in comparison to this?

 

[Aenima]

then Nier Automata managed to sell 6M, maybe its the open world
That said these are $70 launch numbers, and the reception is positive once the price is cut i think it should reach 2 Million without problem

Nier Automata also sold 1 Million in the 1st month, and was a multiplatform game.

 

[peek]

No lie, unironically bought it for the character's... assets and the jiggle physics xD

Ended up enjoying the game as well.

 

[R6Rider]

My GotY so far.

 

[adamsapple]

I mean I would have guessed 2-3 million but no one knows what the original expectations were for this game

How did Lies of P sell in comparison to this?

It sold a million in one month after release.

 

[Brigandier]

I take it you are a Squae-Enix executive........................for a game this small releasing on a single platform to push 1 million this quickly, these guys must be swimming in it.
This is a massive massive success.
Square-Enix executives expect every game to do 10 - 15 million units before it can be considered a success.
Thats not how that works......thats not how anything works.

What a load of fucking drivel, Yes I'm a "Squae-Enix executive............................."

Bravo you got me

I don't give a shit about SE and their silly sales expectations especially when they release absolutely festering stinking shit games like Forspoken, But no 1m isn't a "massive massive success" at all for a PlayStation exclusive in 2 months that was pretty well marketed on social media by Sony, It's pretty average.

You can play excuse bingo all you want but that isn't the kind of sales figures that makes you swimming in it as you say, certainly won't have Sony calling them with another money hat that's for sure.

The game is great, I think it deserves at least triple them numbers but sales wise I'd have expected nearer to 2m, I assume they're including digital sales in this report.

No one mentioned 10-15m sales anywhere btw not sure where that's coming from.........................

 

[Eiknarf]

DLC, uh? Give me Tachy's sideline story, Shift Up.

If they have some extra story to tell, I’d rather them not make a DLC and save that story and use it towards a sequel.

All they should do now is add Nano Suits every few months (it will get some people to jump back into the game and play “dress up Barbie”) and a Photo Mode. This way guys can jerk to it nonstop

 

[Brigandier]

My GotY so far.

Definitely the biggest surprise for me, I thought I'd hate it but gave the demo a chance and couldn't wait for more, This is why demos are important!!!

 

[T-0800]

When I see "waiting for the right price" on what is one of the best games you will play this year, I wonder what sort of games you actually buy.

It simply means I still have too many games I'm still playing. When I do it will no doubt be cheaper. Win win.

 

[Black_Stride]

I don't give a shit about SE and their silly sales expectations especially when they release absolutely festering stinking shit games like Forspoken, But no 1m isn't a "massive massive success" at all for a PlayStation exclusive in 2 months that was pretty well marketed on social media by Sony, It's pretty average.

You can play excuse bingo all you want but that isn't the kind of sales figures that makes you swimming in it as you say, certainly won't have Sony calling them with another money hat that's for sure.

The game is great, I think it deserves at least triple them numbers but sales wise I'd have expected nearer to 2m, I assume they're including digital sales in this report.

I dont think they want Sony to be calling from their words......so I think thats fine.
Any multiplatform publisher will be glad to have them in the portfolio for their next game atleast now they can release on Steam, Xbox, PS5 and SuperSwitch.

Gust games rarely sell over 200,000 units, but the size of the team and budget means they have frikken 23 games in the Atelier series alone.
So yes budget, team size and scope matter.
A game this small doing a million in 3 months is amazing.

What a load of fucking drivel, Yes I'm a "Squae-Enix executive............................."

No one mentioned 10-15m sales anywhere btw not sure where that's coming from.........................

Square-Enix execs always expect games to be trending at 5 million units per month, 3 months the game should be at 15.
So I deduced as you are a Square Exec you were disappointed in this borderline indie game doing a million in 3 months because it should be at 110.

 

[Brigandier]

I dont think they want Sony to be calling from their words......so I think thats fine.
Any multiplatform publisher will be glad to have them in the portfolio for their next game atleast now they can release on Steam, Xbox, PS5 and SuperSwitch.

Gust games rarely sell over 200,000 units, but the size of the team and budget means they have frikken 23 games in the Atelier series alone.
So yes budget, team size and scope matter.
A game this small doing a million in 3 months is amazing.



Square-Enix execs always expect games to be trending at 5 million units per month, 3 months the game should be at 15.
So I deduced as you are a Square Exec you were disappointed in this borderline indie game doing a million in 3 months because it should be at 110.

You chat some shit you do mate

It's been out for 2 months, If it had only done 1m in 3 months I think they'd be very sad, I have no financial interest in any company so I'm not bothered about your sales squabbling any further, good day.

 

[Melfice7]

Gotta be honest when i saw the first trailer i dismissed it thinking it was just some new flashy korean vaporware, im glad i was wrong and the game turned out to be pretty stellar

 

[Black_Stride]

You chat some shit you do mate

It's been out for 2 months, If it had only done 1m in 3 months I think they'd be very sad, I have no financial interest in any company so I'm not bothered about your sales squabbling any further, good day.

Even better.
So it did 1 million in 2 months.......thats Stellar for a title this small from an unknown studio to console players.
Their last game was Nikke.....atleast now they can be taken more seriously by publishers.

For some reason I time travelled to July 25th.

I'm not bothered about your sales squabbling any further, good day.

 

[Madflavor]

You chat some shit you do mate

It's been out for 2 months, If it had only done 1m in 3 months I think they'd be very sad, I have no financial interest in any company so I'm not bothered about your sales squabbling any further, good day.

I already explained to you why over 1 million is a success. In actuality if they're if they're estimating it sold over one million copies, then it's likely between the 1 - 1.5 million dollar range. Lies of P, another Soulslike game from Korea that released last year, sold roughly 1 million copies in a month, and that was on multiple platforms. Stellar Blade is another new IP from an unproven studio, and exclusive only to the PS5. So selling over 1 million copies in 1-2 months at the price point of $70 is good. People had their head in the clouds if they expected otherwise. Should the game have sold triple the amount? Yes it should've because the game rocks. But that's not how things work. If it did, every high quality game would be 3-5 million sellers. The fact is it's an M-Rated character action game, which is a bit of a niche genre, and it's exclusive to one platform at a $70 price point, at a time when people are struggling financially. There was only so much it could do.

They've already reported a net profit from the game, and it's only been out for two months. They game will continue to sell, especially during sales, and eventually it will come to the PC. It's nothing but gravy from here on out. There's nothing to worry about in regards to whether or not it'll get a sequel.

 

[skit_data]

Great game, it was much longer and content-rich than I expected when I preordered it. I really hope they make some sort of spiritual sequel/actual sequel.

 

[poppabk]

In a vacuum that seems pretty good, for a new IP from a new to console dev it is amazing. But for a company with successful mobile gacha games, I've got to imagine that they will need their next console game to sell a lot more for this whole thing to be worthwhile.

 

[ArtHands]

These are small numbers for a game so big though. I really hope it sells more like 5 million.

If devs got 50$ per game sold (they probably get way less) That’d be 50 million $

How much did the game cost and how much spent in marketing?

5 million is a lot

 

[Denorion]

Seeing people "cheering up" the "low sales"

"See, It took Stellar blade 2 months to reach what Horizon Zero Dawn reached in a week"

Ignoring that HZD had a bigger budget and marketing push from Sony

 

[Jesb]

These numbers don’t seem good for the amount of PS5’s out there and the lack of great software. But I don’t think this type of action game is just that appealing to people anymore.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It sold a million in one month after release.

I guess this means Stellar Blade did pretty good then since Lies of P was multiplatform and SB was PS5 exclusive

Non-From Soulslikes don't really sell that great, I wonder why there is such a rush recently to flood the market with this type of game

 

[demonstr8]

That's great and I will be buying a physical copy in a couple of weeks.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Solid but less than I would have thought. I bought it day 1, loved it, will be there for whatever the devs do next

 

[DavidGzz]

Bring it to Steam where I can mod out the anime screaming and where she'll have even better outfits.

 

[Duchess]

Perhaps wait until we get official numbers from Sony. There's a number of games that have been said to have sold low numbers (looks at The Last of Us Part 2), before it being revealed they actually performed much better.

 

[SABRE220]

1 million is a pretty low amount no? Considering it was doing well on the top 10 charts I thought it would be around 2.3-3 million mark.

 

[Bartski]

Weak. My guess was three times that. Looks like times have changed indeed.