Highlights

  • PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade was the top-selling game in the US in April, showing strong success in a short time.
  • Developed by South Korean studio Shift Up, Stellar Blade faced criticism but has quickly become a hit title.
  • Data from Circana revealed Stellar Blade outsold popular titles like Sea of Thieves and Helldivers 2, showcasing its quick rise to the top.

PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade was the top-selling game in the US in April, data showed. The title was first announced in 2019 as Project Eve before ultimately becoming an exclusive for Sony's current-generation console.

Developed by the South Korean studio Shift Up and released on PS5 on April 26, Stellar Blade is a third-person action game set in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth. The Unreal Engine 4-powered title attracted some criticism and controversy following its launch, but Stellar Blade has since found success, especially in America, it seems.

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Stellar Blade’s Greatest Strength is Also its Greatest Weakness
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Stellar Blade’s Greatest Strength is Also its Greatest Weakness

Stellar Blade is one of the best-received games of 2024, but one feature drawing fans to the game may end up hurting it in the long run.

Data from Circana recently shared online by Mat Piscatella, the analytics firm's Executive Director for Video Games, showed that Stellar Blade was the top-selling premium game in the US between April 7 and May 4. This means Shift Up's latest release managed to outsell popular titles included in the report like Sea of Thieves and Helldivers 2 in a little over a week, despite the latter games being out on the market for much longer. Ubisoft's pirate experience launched in early 2018, but its much-awaited PS5 port arrived on April 30. Meanwhile, Arrowhead Game Studios' acclaimed shooter, one of the highest-grossing Sony-published games in history, shipped in February.

Aside from physical sales, the data that Piscatella shared only took into account full digital game purchases from Steam and the respective online stores of Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. However, some titles featured in Circana's report such as MLB: The Show 24 and Princess Peach: Showtime!, the latter of which is among the few major releases for the Nintendo Switch in 2024, partially or completely lacked digital sales data. Moreover, any figures concerning add-on content were excluded from the report.

Top-Selling Games in the US According to Circana (April 2024)

  1. Stellar Blade
  2. Helldivers 2
  3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
  4. Sea of Thieves
  5. Fallout 4
  6. MLB: The Show 2024
  7. Dragon's Dogma 2
  8. Fallout 76
  9. Hogwarts Legacy
  10. EA Sports FC 24

So far, Helldivers 2 is still the best-selling game of 2024 so far, according to additional data from Circana. However, the game's reputation suffered due to a recent PlayStation Network-related controversy. Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani, who moved into the position after Johan Pilestedt took on a more creative role, outlined the company's plans regarding the future of Helldivers 2. Jorjani assured players that the studio will continue to work closely with Sony to improve Helldivers 2, and he acknowledged the challenges that have popped up as a result of the game's massive success as well.

Shift Up has also revealed some of its future development plans. The team is considering a sequel for Stellar Blade, according to a financial report, and the company is also open to the idea of porting the game to PC. Additionally, studio founder and Stellar Blade game director Kim Hyung Tae said in a recent interview that the developer was willing to introduce fan-requested features like a photo mode to the game, but he asked fans to be patient as doing this would take some time.