Stellar Blade Drops to Its Lowest PC Price, Right Before Blood Rain Sequel

For action game fans waiting for the right moment to try Stellar Blade on PC, a big discount has finally arrived. The game, once exclusive to PlayStation 5, is now selling at its lowest price ever on Steam, at $36.59 or about Rp570 thousand, through the digital store Fanatical. The offer is available for a limited time and serves as an entry point for PC players who previously hesitated over the price tag.

Stellar Blade tells the story of Eve, a super soldier sent to a post-apocalyptic Earth alongside her comrades-in-arms. Their mission: to wipe out the Naytiba, a race of monsters that took over the planet after humanity fled into space. The main targets are the Alpha Naytiba and their leader, the Elder Naytiba, in order to save the remnants of civilization. But as is typical of apocalyptic stories, the plan falls apart the moment their feet touch Earth's surface.

In terms of gameplay, Stellar Blade is not just an ordinary hack-and-slash. Its developer, Shift Up, inserted action-RPG elements that place it between two genres. Its combat is praised for being intense and satisfying, though its storyline is considered less solid than its gameplay aspects. GameSpot critic Imran Khan gave it a score of 8/10 and said he enjoyed the game overall thanks to its solid combat system. "I closed out my play session feeling quite satisfied despite some shortcomings, thanks to a very strong system," he wrote in the review.

Interestingly, the news comes alongside confirmation of a sequel titled Blood Rain. Unlike the first game, which was bound by a timed exclusivity deal with PlayStation, Blood Rain will be self-published by Shift Up. This move raises hopes that PC players will not have to wait months or years to play it. If that strategy materializes, a simultaneous release across platforms could become a new standard for the South Korean studio.

"I closed out my play session feeling quite satisfied despite some shortcomings, thanks to a very strong system." — Imran Khan, GameSpot critic

For the Indonesian market, this discount is relevant given that AAA game prices on Steam's Indonesian regional store are often more affordable than global prices. Even so, purchases through Fanatical still follow the dollar exchange rate, so players need to factor in additional costs such as taxes or conversion fees. However, at under $40, Stellar Blade now falls into the wallet-friendly category for a top-tier action game.

Stellar Blade's presence on PC also marks a shift in the strategy of Japanese and Korean publishers, who are increasingly aggressive in tapping the personal computer market. Strict console exclusivity is gradually loosening, especially after the success of several ports such as Nier: Automata and Final Fantasy VII Remake. For Indonesian gamers, who are mostly PC-based, this trend is clearly beneficial because it shortens the gap between console and PC releases.

With the discount available for a limited time, the question now is whether players will take advantage of it as a warm-up before Blood Rain, or instead wait for reviews of the sequel first. What is certain is that Shift Up appears serious about building this franchise outside the grip of exclusivity, and their decisions in the coming months will be an important signal for the direction of Asia's gaming industry.