Shift Up Pledges to Separate Experimental AI Videos from Stellar Blade: Blood Rain Materials Following Fan Backlash

Shift Up has stepped in to address the backlash over its AI-produced music video for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, assuring fans that future experiments of this kind will be kept distinct from official game materials. DongKi Lee, the studio's CTO and Technical Director on Stellar Blade, acknowledged at Gamescom that the video had left不少 viewers with questions.

The clip in question is a music video that Shift Up released to showcase the in-development Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. It was published on the company's official channel and, at the time of TheGamer's report, had garnered around 33,000 views. The studio clarified that the video wasn't purely promotional—they also wanted to use it as a way to better highlight the beauty of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, its game world, and the protagonist Eve.

However, the response from players was overwhelmingly negative. Complaints ranged from Eve's face shifting from frame to frame, to unnatural environments and choppy animation. It seems these very details were what sparked the wave of criticism surrounding the experimental video.

In light of this, Lee made a point of stressing that the studio intends to be more mindful with such posts going forward.

Lee also noted that, in his view, AI can be a useful tool in development, but what truly matters is how and for what purpose it's employed. According to him, artificial intelligence should be used as a means to support the creativity and skill of developers—not replace them. That remains Shift Up's stance following the uproar over the video.

Does Shift Up's response put your mind at ease, or does it feel like we're only going to see more AI-generated trailers in games from here on out?