Stellar Blade features a cameo of the legendary dev behind one of the longest-running MMOs ever made

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Shift Up says it's "deeply grateful" to MMORPG veteran Jake Song

Stellar Blade
(Image credit: Shift Up)

It turns out that the new PS5-exclusive action game Stellar Blade includes a nod to legendary Korean game developer Jake Song, with an NPC that uses his likeness. 

Song is best known for his work within the MMORPG genre, notably serving as the designer for Lineage, which launched in 1998. While Lineage's North American servers shut down back in 2011, it's still alive and kicking elsewhere, making it one of the longest running MMORPGs of all time. "Once again, we are deeply grateful to him," the official Stellar Blade Twitter account writes, confirming Song's appearance, along with an image of him stood alongside his NPC in-game. 

While Shift Up's tweet announcing Song's cameo appearance praises his creation, Lineage, as the longest running MMORPG, worldwide, this isn't quite the case, as a number of rivals, including 1997's Tibia and Ultima Online, and 1996's Meridian 59, are slightly older. Even so, Song's impact on the MMORPG genre has been enormous – he founded the studio XL Games in 2003 before going on to direct 2013's ArcheAge, and is currently working on a sequel, ArcheAge 2. Needless to say, he's definitely earned the shout-out in Stellar Blade. 

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Although Song's appearance isn't exactly a collaboration between Stellar Blade and Lineage, Shift Up has already confirmed that it plans to deliver "a very high-quality crossover collaboration" between the studio's action game and its mobile game, Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung-tae didn't elaborate on when this is planned to release, other than "at the right timing," but he previously stated that Shift Up won't charge for any post-launch DLC unless "we create collaboration costumes with another company's IP." With that in mind, hopefully fans won't have to spend much extra on any additional content planned for Stellar Blade in the future.

If you're just getting started in Shift Up's latest action game, be sure to check out our top 10 Stellar Blade tips and tricks to master the sword. 

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.