Stellar Blade boss on AI slop: ‘Not creating Evie from scratch’

When developer ShiftUp unveiled the music video for their upcoming title, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the internet was immediately divided. What started as a promotional release quickly evolved into a heated debate about the role of generative artificial intelligence in modern game marketing.

The video, described by some as filled with cringeworthy robotic vocals and others as utterly devoid of soul, sparked widespread backlash. Critics questioned why a company that consistently dominates gacha revenue charts, like ShiftUp’s other title, Nikke: Goddess of Victory, would opt for an aesthetic package so perceived as flimsy or uninspired.

The central argument leveled by many was whether the use of AI fundamentally undermined the artistic vision behind the game. Was this flashy marketing a genuine reflection of the game, or simply a symptom of a broader trend?

ShiftUp CEO Hyung Tae Kim stepped in to offer clarification, asserting that the team was not creating the core character from scratch using AI. He explained that Evie, the centerpiece of the video, was built upon over a year of dedicated work by their artists and modelers.

“The AI is not creating her from scratch,” Kim stated. “It is rendering and presenting the character based on the data, design, and craftsmanship our team created.”

However, this explanation did not fully satisfy many observers, who pointed out that while the foundational design was human-created, nearly every other visual element in the video seemed to rely heavily on AI generation. Critics noted that parts of Evie’s suit literally morphed and shifted, food items featured horrible AI slime effects, and environmental signage displayed garbled nonsense generated by artificial intelligence.

This layering of generative tools, while perhaps technically innovative, was argued to cheapen the overall visual identity and undermine the quality of the game’s image. Furthermore, the song accompanying the video was also AI-generated, leading some to argue that a human composer would have provided a superior result for marketing purposes.

Despite these critiques, ShiftUp appears intent on continuing its integration of AI into development cycles. As South Korea continues to embrace artificial intelligence as a powerful tool in technology and creative fields, it is unsurprising that studios like ShiftUp are adopting these technologies. CEO Kim has been navigating the landscape of AI since around 2022, making this utilization not entirely surprising, though certainly disappointing to many who value traditional artistic input.