Stellar Blade is coming to PC on June 11, but strangely, the Steam version of the game won't be available for over 130 countries. This news has come as a surprise to developer Shift Up, as the studio has been bombarded with messages on its social media platforms from players sharing screenshots of the game being blocked from sale in their respective countries.
Major markets like Europe and the US are unaffected, but the game will be unavailable to players in other countries like Bangladesh, Fiji, and Botswana.
So what's the cause here? That's currently unclear, but this might be a case that's similar to Helldivers 2. Shortly after the game was released on PC, it became mandatory for players on that platform to create and link a PlayStation Network account to keep playing the game. There was a huge backlash to this move--that was later scrapped--and Helldivers 2 was subsequently unavailable for purchase because of it in many countries at the time.
While Stellar Blade doesn't require a PSN account to be playable on PC, one of the new costumes being added to the game can only be unlocked when a Steam account is linked to Sony's service. It's also worth noting that PSN isn't available in the list of countries impacted.
The countries where Stellar Blade won't be sold for PC on Steam (via SteamDB)
For everyone else looking to pick up the action game when it arrives next month, Stellar Blade will offer quite a few graphical enhancements. Support for upscaling tech like Nvidia DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3 will be available, and there'll be lots of new content as well.
A total of 25 new Nano Suits are being added to the game, and if you feel like testing your skills, you can fight Xionn's guardian Mann in the Boss Challenge mode. PS5 owners can also get this content, as it'll be added to Stellar Blade for free in an upcoming update.
Source
Major markets like Europe and the US are unaffected, but the game will be unavailable to players in other countries like Bangladesh, Fiji, and Botswana.
So what's the cause here? That's currently unclear, but this might be a case that's similar to Helldivers 2. Shortly after the game was released on PC, it became mandatory for players on that platform to create and link a PlayStation Network account to keep playing the game. There was a huge backlash to this move--that was later scrapped--and Helldivers 2 was subsequently unavailable for purchase because of it in many countries at the time.
While Stellar Blade doesn't require a PSN account to be playable on PC, one of the new costumes being added to the game can only be unlocked when a Steam account is linked to Sony's service. It's also worth noting that PSN isn't available in the list of countries impacted.
The countries where Stellar Blade won't be sold for PC on Steam (via SteamDB)
For everyone else looking to pick up the action game when it arrives next month, Stellar Blade will offer quite a few graphical enhancements. Support for upscaling tech like Nvidia DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3 will be available, and there'll be lots of new content as well.
A total of 25 new Nano Suits are being added to the game, and if you feel like testing your skills, you can fight Xionn's guardian Mann in the Boss Challenge mode. PS5 owners can also get this content, as it'll be added to Stellar Blade for free in an upcoming update.
Source