A recent analysis has revealed an interesting statistic about a pair of playable demos on PS5. According to Ampere, Stellar Blade's demo, at its peak, had almost twice the number of daily active players compared to the peak for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's demo.
Apparently, the Korean action RPG's best day saw the demo accrue about 690,000 daily active users. The demo for Square Enix's anticipated sequel, meanwhile, managed roughly 380,000 at its peak.
It's an interesting analysis; the two games are both major PS5 exclusives this year and are in a similar ball park in terms of genre. However, Stellar Blade is a new IP with much to prove, while FF7 Rebirth is obviously part of an established series, and the demo arrived to a lot of hype and expectation. We imagine many were curious to see whether Shift Up's action title will be worth picking up, while many fans of Final Fantasy were perhaps hesitant to play the Rebirth demo to save the experience for the full game's release. In that case, we can understand the difference in player figures here.
As Ampere points out, though, the Rebirth demo's 380k peak players translated to about 2.2 million daily active players at launch. Stellar Blade may not be able to match that trajectory, as it doesn't have the same brand recognition or level of anticipation. It'll be interesting to see how the game fares when it arrives later this month.
What do you think about this information? Did you play the demos for these games? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source ampereanalysis.com, via gameworldobserver.com]
Comments 69
Well tbf ReBirth is a sequel so most buyers were already sold on the game and didn't need a demo, and then there's those who didn't play the demo because it's a sequel and didn't play the first game so it wouldn't make sense.
No wonder, since it's a brand new IP, and the demo was much more fun, than the one we got for Rebirth.
I hope Sony starts bringing out more new IP:s from now on, instead of just pumping out sequels/remasters.
I did play both but only a very tiny portion of them because I knew I was already getting them
I think a large part of that is because Rebirth was a sequel and many people had preordered it before the demo even came out (myself included). Meanwhile, no one knew what Stellar Blade was, really, so people were curious. If anything too, because it’s a new IP, it got positive word of mouth for its gameplay, so I think that likely helped it as well.
Looks like FF mainline series needs to do something drastic soon. Seems sales are going off a cliff unless it’s XIV
It was interesting seeing that FF7 Rebirth has sold 2 million copies in less than 2 months. A pretty amazing feat considering how long it’s been on the market and how many platforms it’s available for, especially in an age where gamers are being conscientious of how they spend their money.
I think Stellar Blade is going to do gangbusters in sales. There was already a lot of good will behind it, and releasing the demo was a great idea, cause it was amazing. I feel people are re-assured now as much as they can be to jump in.
Rebirth was the sequel to a very divisive first game. Those who were out were never coming back. Stellar Blade got a lot of interest due to controversies online, positive word of mouth and overall interest due to the promotions from Sony who are treating it like a proper first party title. Both Ronin and Stellar Blade are getting insane promotion in Asia especially.
Also, the demo was great. I've probably fought the Stalker 5-6 times because the combat feels so good.
How do they know how many daily active users either of these demos had? Where are the numbers available at? Their report sources themselves, which is fine I guess you can make an estimate, but based off what?
@J-Dubs I wonder that myself. I've never understood how Ampere gets their data
I feel like Push Square didn't like the ending of rebirth and are trying to take shots at the game as much as they can.
Bit offtopic, but demos are such a waste of time. You can get the feel for a game through a review or gameplay and decide then and there if a game is worth it or not.
With the backlog I have, ain't nobody got time for demo's lol
Well ones and ones a full priced game
After playing the demo for Stellar Blade and the full game for REBIRTH, I heavily preferred Stellar Blade.
I honestly think REBIRTH is one of the worst Square Enix games in recent memory and no, I'm not trolling here, I genuinely hated it by the end.
The amount of bloat is absolutely insane and the awful story changes entirely killed my interest in the 3rd game.
I think it’s pretty obvious why. Most of us (me included) loved the first game in the remake trilogy and didn’t bother with the FFVII Rebirth demo as we already had it on preorder.
With Stellar Blade, however, many of us (again, me included) loved the look of the game, but needed to know how it played, so this demo was more important. I was and will be there, day one, for both games.
Quite a lot of people say otherwise, but I think PS5 is on fire right now and, as such, this has been my favourite console generation in a while.
I didn't play either one. But stellar sword is a bigger curiosity cause it's a new IP.
I only played the Rebirth demo for the rewards. As soon as it let me create a save file I quit.
If there were no rewards I wouldn't have played it at all. I wanted to go into the game completely fresh.
The Stellar Blade demo I played from start to finish.
@The_Pixel_King "Quite a lot of people say otherwise, but I think PS5 is on fire right now and, as such, this has been my favourite console generation in a while."
Yes. Been saying this myself. I'm very much of the same opinion. I don't think I've ever been lost in this many fantastic single player games at one time before.
I think as core gamers and enthusiasts we put a lot of effort into armchair analysis and showing off how much we know, but sometimes we just forget to have fun.
@Martijn87 kind of 😂 but metacritic says hello and it will be a goty contender at the end of the year while safe cash grabs like P3R will be forgotten (unless they manage to somehow irritate the fanbase even more with a “Royal” kind of edition).
I liked Rebirth a lot but it was objectively a very good game, it’s insane how much care they put into it
I wish stellar blade a lot of success and will be there day 1 anyway but …what a strange comparison 🤷🏻♀️
@UltimateOtaku91 well to be more fair people are playing the demo cuz it’s fun and that nigh singular reason requires no restraint via conjecture
Another reason people didn’t play the FF7 demo is cuz it’s a squeenix game and they went a lot harder when soft was in the name.
Can you also tell how many players are playing Stellar Blade while wearing the skin suit? 😆
I don’t need to play the Rebirth demo, I’m getting that game eventually regardless. (Gotta clear the backlog a little first. Mostly Crisis Core) But for Stellar Blade, having the demo was definitely a plus. After playing it I’ve decided to hold off until later and only pick it up if it reviews well. It was good, just a little more difficult than I was expecting. Not a fan of timing based parry in my combat, so I’m glad I got to try it first.
@BugCatcherGarl
Highly disagree myself. I thought XVI was genuinely terrible and I stopped playing it after 15 hours (I managed to sit through XV) and I found REMAKE so average on replay.
REMAKE being far too linear (I get why it is before people start getting crazy) and far far far too scripted just made it a slog to get through for me on replay.
@Specky
Perhaps if you’ve been gaming for several decades as I have, but there are a lot of kids who have only ever played Fortnite for example…demos are good to get a certain demographic into single player non-free to play games, so I welcome them.
There has been multiple articles on this site that have pushed Stellar Blade while taking a shot at FF or DD2. It's kinda weird.
@Martijn87 agree, what's the deal here. Haven't reached the ending yet, but if people want ff7 verbatim then they should play the original. I'm having a blast so far and I'm also sure stellar blade will be great as well, but they're too different to compare (except for the vending machines).
@Martijn87 my thoughts exactly. It's getting pretty ridiculous at this point. Reminds me of the meme: "hating on FF 7 Rebirth. So hot right now"
@UltimateOtaku91
And then people like me, who played the demo and cancelled their pre-order afterwards.
@Steel76 I’m fine with sequels, just not remasters. Remakes maybe.
Like most people have said, this is slightly skewed by the fact that plenty of people had no intention of playing the Rebirth demo because they already knew they were buying it. I would be one of those people, while after reading about how different Stellar Blade was than expected (not another fast paced Bayonetta/DMC like it initially looked like), playing that demo was a priority before deciding on whether to buy it.
As much as I love Rebirth, the gameplay in Stellar Blade was way more fun.
Ok and Rebirth is still the better game.
People only enjoy Stellar Blade because of its sex appeal not because it’s a good game.
@Steel76
Sony has failed a lot because they only release remasters instead of making new titles, and the same goes for Microsoft. As things stand now, neither the PlayStation 5 nor the Xbox Series are necessary for the time being because there are not enough first-party games to justify the purchase
@Specky Great thing about demos is formulating your own opinion of a game (at no cost) rather than relying on someone else to tell you if the game is good.
Nothing against reviews, but they are still just opinions.
It also helped the Stellar Blade demo leaking early and removal prompted more attention for it (good and bad) until it finally was playable again. Most fans I've talked with were just going to wait for Rebirth's release instead of playing the demo even when it had some perks.
@tameshiyaku Yeah I don't get the negatively either. I really enjoyed Rebirth and I still thinks it's the best FF game since atleast FF12. As for the ending having changes, it was clear from Part 1 that it's as much a sequal as it is a remake.
People r grinding xp in the demo to carry over to the main game so they can be overpowering on release
@Zenos yeah, kudos to square-enix for actually going above and beyond what it means to remake. Most remakes just give the game a visual makeover which is a pointless exercise, sort of like Gus van Sant's Psycho, because one could just watch the original Hitchcock.
Better remakes overhaul the gameplay and add quality of life improvements.
FF7 remake does all of that and goes another step further by having a story that sits parallel to the original, while not retconning or disrespecting it. Truly a masterclass.
That's because it was so bloody hard, people had to keep coming back to try it every few hours! 😉
@Martijn87 That's because it was absolute trash! 😜
@danzoEX
Nope, I enjoyed it for its gameplay far more than I did VII REBIRTH. Nice try though.
Rebirth is a badtardised version is a beloved 90's franchise and this is a new thing... So hardly surprising
Plus the SB demo is much more repayable than the FFVII demo which is pretty much one and done.
@Specky Totally disagree! I used to love buying the official playstation magazine as a kid, specificity for the demos; as an adult, I'm happy to read and watch reviews, but I would always rather play a demo, and get a feel for myself before purchasing a game, where possible. I wish every game came with a demo for free- it would be your choice to interact with them.
I mean I knew I was going to play rebirth and actively avoided the demo.
No point, why spoil the hype when I already know I will play it.
Stella is a new unproven ip that needs to be sampled, it totally makes sense
"similar ball park in terms of genre. "
No. No they are not - not even close.
One is a quintessential JRPG, one is an action fighting title.
Not sure whats going on at Push, but they definitely seem to have some kind of agenda, and that's a real shame.
Apparently there's a conspiracy against the bloated mess that is Final Fantasy VII: REBIRTH now. God forbid it be an overly bloated mess of a game and not the masterpiece that reviewers are making it out to be.
As someone who has finished a good chunk of the series and adores Final Fantasy, I honestly find the 93 on MC baffling.
I've finished Ch12 on Rebirth and now I'm getting worried reading all these comments about the game ending, is it that bad??? (Please no spoilers).
Anyways, these recent Square Enix failures on PS exclusives are depressing, SE is one of my favorite developers and PS my main platform (alongside PC), and the fact people are not heavily buying those game, despite being awesome, is disappointing. Both SE and Sony are good partners and I hope they keep collaborating in the future.
On the other hand, I'm very happy for Stellar Blades, I played the demo and immediately pre-ordered the Deluxe edition, not to mention the trophy list made me even more exited for the game, so I hope the final release gets the love it deserves.
Maybe people are simply hungry for something new? I know I am
@danzoEX right? Put the same jiggle effects on Tifa that are in Stellar Blade and Rebirth would’ve had more downloads
@Mikey856 FF mainly has already tried to become a linear turn based game, an open world turn based game, an open world mon-hun styled action-command game, an MMORPG (twice), and now a highly westernized linear corridor slasher that tries to blend a DMC crossed with Souls vibe. What else drastic can they do?! They can't even add guns, they've already done that. They've even tried a dog!
I'm not sure what it is about FF that automatically dooms it. I'd say it's the Japanese asethetic not appealing to the West, but XVI tried to change that and it didn't work either. And Stellar Blade has that "Asian aesthetic" you'd think turns off the West, too. I'd say the obvious sale of sex on Stellar Blade is the difference, but then there's the Tifa meme. I still think if Stellar Blade stared an Edo samurai, it wouldn't have 20% of the interest it does. Heck SB and XVI are basically the same game/genre. Only real difference is SB is "edgy" has that tween-teen-"heh, it's almost porn, heh" thing going for it, while FF is more "serious". Tifa meme aside.
I think FF needs to recognize it's market size, be the best JRPG, yes, JRPG, it can be, and budget accordingly, stop trying to be some AAA blockbuster it never has been and never is going to be. SMT doesn't need $150 million. It knows its market and makes games for them. SMT is exactly as old as FF. Both from 1987.
They also need to figure out naming. You don't change entire genres and call it "16". You don't take a remake, split it into a trilogy, remove the reference to the original game, then remove identifying its' a sequel to anything at all, and launch it. What is "FF Rebirth"? If you're not an FF stan already, how would you know it's the middle entry of a planned trilogy that reimagines the 25 year old 7th entry of a series? Half the market wasn't even old enough to hold a controller when "remake" was announced. People were still buying PS3s back then. Sounds like a new open world spinoff in that "FF thing" old people talk about.
VII lost customers as soon as they said "episodic." That was like 8 years ago. And even that would be fine if they released them every November or something, but instead it's 4 years between entries. I think they're doing ok in sales all things considered, but it's not what they want from it, it's not what they budgeted costs for, and I don't know if they can fix that. It's not the series they wish it was. I kind of wonder how Remake would have gone if it were a single remake game and released 6 years ago. I also wonder how "Rebirth" would have gone if it was the second and FINAL half of a remake rather than a middle entry of a drawn out trilogy.
Still, all that having been said and done, I still stand by if SB were starring a samurai, it would disappear from the headlines in a week. If Rebirth had playable Tifa in a latex catsuit as the only playable character, FF would be at 5 million.
@ShadowofTwilight yeah I’m sure you enjoyed climbing up and down a ladder a good number of times and getting the “Skin Suit” as good gameplay.
So many people salty about a video game website reporting data about video games.
@danzoEX
Nope, I enjoy fighting the enemies because I enjoy Soulslike's actually. No need to be mad that this game is already a better time than VII REBIRTH.
I look forward to playing both games at some point in the future. Both look fantastic and I tried the demo for Stellar Blade which was excellent and Rebirth is the follow up to Remake, so instant buy!
Perhaps this is because we sort of knew what to expect with FFVII. Why try it when you’re buying it anyway. Lots of people didn’t even question their purchase and knew they were getting it, demo or not.
Stellar Blade is something new more or less so folks want to try it and see if they want to buy.
Data checks out to me.
@danzoEX Dead wrong. I am looking forward to the game because the combat is fun, I like the setting and I like how the lore is being derived from biblical mythos. If there’s anything to say about Eve, it’s that she has the personality of a wet dish cloth and I hope we see development in that area.
@J-Dubs They look like a company that specializes in providing this information to companies. So, there is probably a lot of behind the scenes and insider info that they have.
@AverageGamer Yeah maybe. IDK though Sony doesn't publish this stuff and leaking it if you work there would likely be a big deal. I don't think Sony even shares this stuff in financial disclosures. Ampere is obviously a company making these claims, but its based off of their guesses not based on numbers Sony is giving them.
@Specky Haha this is the worst take I have heard in a long time. All a review can do is point out its strengths and weaknesses and compare it to other games. You cant get a feel for the game if you don't get a demo. There are plenty of games I have purchased that I otherwise wouldn't because of a demo. I probably would have bought Dragons Dogma 2 if it had a demo but I am so unsure of the combat feel that I didn't want to put $70 bucks down.
I already knew I was going to buy and play Rebirth. I felt no need to download it and play it. I was going to play it no matter what.
Well FF7 demo doesnt have a half naked chick in it.. sadly.
I played the Stellar Blade demo because it was a new IP; then I went on to complete it twice because it was so good, which I’ve never done before. I didn’t play the Rebirth demo at all, but I already had it preordered and kind of knew what to expect. I imagine this may be the case with a lot of folks?
@danzoEX I think you're doing the game a great disservice. Maybe a few spotty Gen Z enjoy the game for that but most gamers are adults with families. I much prefer the real thing to pixels.
Plus the gameplay in Stellar Blade is top notch.
@ShadowofTwilight
'As someone who has finished a good chunk of the series and adores Final Fantasy, I honestly find the 93 on MC baffling.'
After all, yours is surely the only opinion that counts, and anyone not thinking like you can't be taken seriously? Can you not accept that people have different tastes and on this game you are the outlyer opinion without imagining some conspiracy?
I've played every FF title since its first western release and enjoyed them all immensely. Rebirth is right up there and sits highly in my 'all time' lists. Thats, not a bought opinion, thats the opinion of an FF fan whos played gaming since inception and made a living for over 2 decades crafting gaming experiences.
Its no more valid than your opinion of course, but its not a weird of the wall opinion either, its one I share with many others. If you genuinely want to understand what people see in it and can be bothered, watch skillups youtube review that was posted recently, hes a good wordsmith and expresses well why this game, for many, is an all timer.
... and Stella Blade is fantastic, but its a completely different genre of game.
@Titntin
Don't know where you got that leap of "your opinion is the only one that matters" junk from because it's clearly obvious that isn't what I meant.
I've played the game and it just baffles me that people can stomach a game that is 70% filler and 30% actual importance but you do you, have fun with that.
Also, I'm not the one making conspiracies in this article, just look at all the people getting mad over nothing because someone dares not to like their precious REBIRTH.
What is going on with Push Square? The FF bashing is insane and they're not even trying to hide it. It's just blatantly obvious at this point.
The power of well designed yams-yams😌👌
Sony should announce the PlayStation 5 Stellar Blade Limited Edition since it promotes the game a lot
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