Stellar Blade PC Port DISASTER?! Region Lock & Denuvo Cause UPROAR!

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At long last, “Stellar Blade” will make its debut on PC on June 11 for those of you within its availability range! However, it seems PlayStation may not have taken the lesson from their mistake with “Helldivers 2“. To add to that, the game has also been equipped with Denuvo, which only compounds the issue.

To clarify, there seems to have been a mix-up regarding the region lock on the PlayStation Network. Contrary to expectations, this problem occurred. It’s important to note that linking to the network was an optional choice, and developers share your confusion. At present, they are diligently working to resolve this issue, so everyone can continue to enjoy their gaming experience uninterrupted.

Stellar Blade is set to be released on PC, but at what cost?

The highly anticipated game Stellar Blade has stirred excitement among PC gamers, but unfortunately, its release has left many players feeling disappointed. There seems to be speculation that Sony may have hastily enacted region locks on the game, leading to this outcome. One can’t help but wonder how appealing it would be for Sony to extend PSN functionality to a high-end platform such as PC.

At present, Shift Up is engaged in discussions with Sony Interactive Entertainment regarding the regional lock problem. To demonstrate their openness about this issue, they have issued a statement. It seems that the resolution is imminent, so we’re just waiting for the appropriate time.

As a passionate gamer, I’m not here to blame Sony directly, but the focus is on Denuvo – a software solution that’s been getting a lot of heat from the gaming community. The reason? It appears to affect game performance, which isn’t something gamers appreciate. However, the developers of Stellar Blade have stepped forward to clarify that this isn’t true in their case. They’ve even shared benchmarks to back up their claims.

1. We’re actively working with the publisher on the region lock problem and are doing everything we can to address it swiftly.

2. The DRM settings have been finely adjusted in the test chart, aiming to keep a consistent average frame rate, while boosting the minimum frames as well…

— StellarBlade (@StellarBlade) May 16, 2025

Modifications can be applied to the PC version of Stellar Blade, despite its use of Denuvo anti-piracy software. However, since Denuvo is designed primarily to prevent tampering, there might be some mods that don’t function as expected or cause problems. Some fans have expressed reservations about having Denuvo in the game and have threatened not to purchase it due to this reason.

Denuvo poses a huge problem for the sales of Stellar Blade on PC





PC gamers might harbor resentment towards Denuvo due to its history of causing problems. While developers claim it doesn’t impact performance, there are other aspects that warrant concern. On the outside, it appears to be a countermeasure against piracy, but it comes with its own set of issues.

I value the openness in your approach. It might be beneficial to reconsider using Denuvo, given the strong negative feelings many gamers hold towards it. However, there’s no concrete evidence that Denuvo boosts sales when a game is already excellent. For instance, Expedition 33 has been selling exceptionally well on PC without Denuvo protection.

— Grummz (@Grummz) May 16, 2025

Initially, the presence of Denuvo implies that players must always be online while playing the game; there’s no offline play option, even for single-player games. This constant internet requirement puts strain on the CPU because of the encryption process. To add to this, compatibility issues may arise with older hardware.

It’s important to note that Denuvo isn’t solely an issue for gamers, but also for game creators. For every game protected by Denuvo, developers are charged $0.5 per month. Moreover, maintaining the service requires a significant monthly fee of $25,000. Therefore, creating games with Denuvo protection is quite costly for the developers.

Beyond this, the contentious Digital Rights Management (DRM) is widely disliked, leading to reduced sales for it causing significant damage to Shift Up. The extra conditions are making PC gamers question their decision to purchase the game. For a community that values performance above all else, the inclusion of Denuvo feels like an infringement on consumer expectations.

Despite the assertion that Denuvo has no impact on sales, it’s quite misleading. Many PC gamers view Denuvo negatively due to its restrictive nature. It’s unnecessary and has been shown to be problematic multiple times. The game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, for instance, was launched without Denuvo and managed to sell over two million copies, demonstrating that gamers are willing to purchase games, but not when Denuvo is involved.

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2025-05-17 17:43