In a rather stunning move,Sonyhas begun removing the region restrictions that previously existed on itsPlayStationgames that were ported toPC. What’s more, it appears thatthe massive success of Stellar Bladeis one of the key reasons why.
As first spotted by Wario64on Twitter,God of War Ragnarök,The Last of Us Part 2,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2andHelldivers 2are among the games to have had the restrictions removed,according to changes spotted on SteamDB.
In removing the restrictions, it’ll allow players in countries that do not support PSN to be able to play the games. As of this writing, it’s unclear whether other titles (Ghost of Tsushima, Until Dawn, etc.) will also see changes.
Stellar Blade Quickly Became The Best Performing PlayStation PC Port
It was widely presumed thatStellar Bladewould be a hit on PC,largely due to the raunchy mods that would follow, but its success has been unprecedented, at least compared to other PlayStation titles.
In the lead-up to its release,its PC demo had more concurrents than the likes of Indiana Jones or ARC Raiders. Then, upon its launch,it topped over 180,000 players, more than any other PS title on PC. Beyond its wide appeal,the game also didn’t carry the same PSN restrictions that other games carried, as developer Shift Up somehow managed to loosen those restrictions.
With the game available in more regions, the user base obviously responded in full by purchasing the game. That quick turn in profit could’ve definitely been a signal to do the same for other games. Otherwise, the company would have continued to contend with lost sales,as well as piracy, of which The Last of Us Part 2 was a major victim of when it released on PC.
With the loosened restrictions coming into effect, it’ll be fascinating to see if there’s an uptick in player counts as more and more gamers get access to the games.
