ShiftUp has addressed concerns about Stellar Blade's region lock and DRM, confirming mod support and ongoing talks with the publisher ahead of the PC launch.
ShiftUp, the developer of popular action-RPG Stellar Blade, is looking into getting a fix for the “region lock” issue Stellar Blade is facing less than a month before its PC release on 11 June. The devs issued a statement regarding the matter on Friday (16 June) via X (formerly Twitter):
In the statement, ShiftUp emphasised that they were “closely discussing the region lock issue with the publisher and are doing [their] BEST to resolve most of it as soon as possible.”
Stellar Blade has been region-restricted on Steam in more than 120 countries
On Stellar Blade’s post on 16 May (Friday), multiple X users shared screenshots that showed the game being unavailable in their region.
A quick check on SteamDB confirms that Stellar Blade is restricted in over 120 countries, most of which are countries where the PlayStation Network (PSN) is unavailable. However, in ShiftUp’s most recent tweet above, they mentioned that “PSN connecting entirely optional and NEVER required,” also noting that both PS5 and PC versions will offer the same content.
This controversy comes not long after Helldivers 2 faced review-bombing on Steam last year following the introduction of a mandatory PSN account requirement, which led to the game being pulled from sale in 177 countries. The decision was swiftly reversed following community backlash.
Now, Stellar Blade appears to be facing a similar controversy. However, Shift Up has clarified that a PSN account is optional, not mandatory. Fans will be hoping for a positive update from the developers ahead of the upcoming PC release.
Concerns over Denuvo and mod support
Some players also discovered that Denuvo, an anti-tamper and digital rights management system, has been incorporated into the PC version of the game.
The devs also clarified through the same tweet how the team made sure that the “DRM has been hard-tuned to maintain the same average frame rate,” and shared frame rates recording upon testing, along with Stellar Blade’s PC requirements. On top of that, they confirmed that “mods are fully supported without any restrictions.”
