Stellar Blade launches on Steam in June
PlayStation 5 action hit Stellar Blade has been destined for PC since last year, but it's been a bit since we heard anything new about developer Shift Up's plans. That has now come to an end, as a new trailer during Sony's State of Play revealed two things: a crossover with the studio's previous game, Goddess of Victory: Nikke, and a release date (er, month): June 2025.
Stellar Blade now has a Steam page which says that it's «optimized for PC,» but that's about it for details. No word on PC-specific features yet, but the game itself is already a known quantity. In a review at GamesRadar+, my colleague Austin Wood wrote that Stellar Blade «can be clunky, inelegant, and laugh-out-loud stupid, but firing on all cylinders, it delivers exhilarating combat and boss fights, endearing characters, and stunning environments.»
He particularly zeroed in on overused enemies and a clunky dodge, and yes, there's also the design of main character Eve:
«Stellar Blade is infinitely better when it lets its characters act like normal people instead of prodding them to be outwardly sexy. Eve winds up trapped in a needless tug-of-war of the game's creation. One moment the camera treats her as an unserious sex object for players to gawk at, and in the next the story presents her as a serious character whose entire arc revolves around her own sense of agency. It's not a good or cohesive look when the game repeatedly presents lewd outfits—lingerie, bikinis, and bunny girl suits—like they're rewards to chase, using a soulless, dead-eyed version of Eve as the model.»
That's certainly not going to change with the PC release, but perhaps we'll see Shift Up polish some of Stellar Blade's other weaknesses, like that ropey dodge. Either way, I'm gonna steer clear of the NexusMods page for this one.
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