Overview
- Shift Up revealed Stellar Blade: Blood Rain at Summer Game Fest and introduced Evie as the new protagonist replacing Eve, with the studio saying Eve may still appear in the game.
- CEO Hyung‑Tae Kim told reporters the team intentionally made Evie shorter and younger-looking to better sell intense close-quarters combat and to give her a more defined personality.
- Shift Up confirmed it will self-publish Blood Rain to pursue wider platform and regional reach, including stronger PC and China support, while praising past help from Sony.
- The reveal drew rapid online criticism that Evie appears childlike given her facial features and revealing outfits, a debate that remains active across Western and Asian audiences.
- Fans flagged possible generative-AI elements in early launch assets and journalists noted development is only about a year in, so the studio may still revise character art, assets, and gameplay before release.