Generally speaking, using generative AI is a quick way to annoy your fanbase, and that's exactly what happened when Stellar Blade: Blood Rain developer Shift Up revealed a music video using the tech for the upcoming game. The head of the company has now responded to the waves of backlash, clarifying that the original design of the sequel's protagonist was made by human beings.
On Twitter, Kim Hyung Tae, the CEO of Shift Up, responds to someone asking if the developer could rely more on its actual workforce rather than AI. "Evie, the character at the heart of this video, was created from head to toe by our talented artists and modelers through more than a year of dedicated work," he starts.
"The AI is not creating her from scratch," he explains. "It is rendering and presenting the character based on the data, designs, and craftsmanship our team created."
EVIE, the character at the heart of this video, was created from head to toe by our talented artists and modelers through more than a year of dedicated work.The AI is not creating her from scratch. It is rendering and presenting the character based on the data, designs, and…July 31, 2026
It sounds like Shift Up created its own AI tool, then fed it various models and ideas for it to spew out the video on the other side. Developers and publishers adopting the tech have been using it similarly, essentially creating their own, in-house ChatGPT for whatever they need it for.
Even if everything given to the interface was manmade, it's still resource-intensive technology for what you get that comes with a myriad of ethical concerns, including how labor is deployed and valued. To finish, the studio's CEO asks that we view the Stellar Blade: Blood Rain clip, made for the song 'Wanna Be In Love,' through a lens of meshing human creativity and AI.
"We would truly appreciate it if you could view the work with that understanding in mind," he adds.
While it's helpful to get more context for how this thing came to exist, I'm not sure he's going to convince anyone to change their perspectives. "If this is your defense then you're not getting it," says one fan on Twitter. "Nobody is debating that you made the character, but you then used the big old AI shortcut to make content with that character."
But then, this is all in line with previous comments, as the Shift Up lead considers AI necessary to the South Korean game industry. Prepare to take more hikes through the uncanny valley courtesy of Shift Up.
