Shift Up has chosen an unconventional route to promote Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the next installment in the action series. The South Korean studio released a music video showing protagonist Evie strolling through a dystopian cyberpunk city at night. The twist is that the entire clip appears to be generated by artificial intelligence, from character modeling to the environments. The song is titled "Wanna be in Love" and the result, at first glance, looks thoroughly artificial in every sense.
An AI-driven marketing experiment
The video features Evie exploring the neon-lit alleys of the metropolis that served as the backdrop for the official announcement trailer shown during Summer Games Fest. At one point, the girl picks up a KPop Demon Hunters keychain from the ground, a clear nod to another in-house production. Near the end, viewers witness a fake behind-the-scenes segment showing developers "on set" with Evie, giving her directions, fixing her makeup and high-fiving members of the team. A deliberately ironic choice, since no real set exists.
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Shift Up's AI strategy against Chinese competition
The decision to rely on artificially generated content is no accident. CEO and Stellar Blade director Hyung-tae Kim had already stated during a South Korean economic growth briefing that he believes artificial intelligence is an essential tool to compete globally with companies like those in China. Kim said AI will not lead to job losses, but will enable one person to do the work that today requires one hundred people. The Asian country is investing nearly 14 billion dollars in AI-related infrastructure, confirming the direction Seoul is taking. This approach echoes what is happening in other tech sectors, such as Google's recent decision to fold AI Studio into Gemini.
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Evie and the character design controversy
The choice to use a younger and smaller-looking character than the previous Eve drew criticism since the initial reveal. Some observers talk about the sexualization of a figure with childlike traits, despite Shift Up promising "more appealing" outfits for the protagonist. Interviewed by IGN, Hyung-tae Kim answered questions about player perception by saying that Evie is indeed younger and smaller than Eve, but largely dodged the issue. "If you actually play the game, you will not think that", the director said, implying that the narrative context and gameplay mechanics could overturn initial impressions.
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The present and future of the Stellar Blade series
No release date has been announced for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. Fans are also focused on the upcoming arrival of the original title on Nintendo Switch 2 later this year. The series, which has already experienced controversial moments such as the removal of unintentional racial slurs and the debate over Eve's design, as documented on Wikipedia, seems destined to remain in the spotlight. Pushing an AI music video as the first major promotional campaign for the sequel is a risky bet, but it reflects a broader transformation of the gaming industry toward automated production.
