Update [Mon 3rd Aug 2026, 2:45pm]: Shift Up boss Hyung-Tae Kim has responded to fans upset at the Korean studio’s new “AI slop” music video for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain.
Asked by a follower why the team wasn’t leveraging its “talented artists” to create new content, Kim argued that new character Evie was hand designed by its artists over an entire year.
He argued the generative AI used is just rendering her movements.
His statement in full is as follows:
“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 craftsmanship our team created.
We would truly appreciate it if you could view the work with that understanding in mind.”
Personally, I think Kim is misunderstanding why people are upset about this.
Clearly Evie was created by Shift Up’s illustrators and artists, but the “AI slop” used to make her move in this video is powered by millions of uncredited reference points.
Unless Shift Up comes out and says its generative AI solution is only trained on original Shift Up assets, then I don’t think fans are going to accept this explanation at all.
Original Story: Stellar Blade maker Shift Up is getting utterly roasted on social media for releasing an AI generated music video based on its upcoming sequel, Blood Rain.
The music video for ‘Wanna Be in Love’ shows new protagonist Evie belting out a pleasant pop number in the upcoming game’s China-inspired city setting.
But it’s been created using the Korean studio’s AI Labs division and has all the hallmarks of generative AI, including uncanny valley facial expressions and visual inaccuracies.
The studio appears to be all-in on generative AI, as its reveal trailer for the upcoming action game was also filled with so-called “slop” assets.
Writing on X (or Twitter), boss Hyung-Tae Kim – an accomplished illustrator and artist – encouraged his followers to share their thoughts on the video.
“Wanna be in LOVE” feat. EVIE from Stellar Blade : BLOODRAIN🎶
EVIE’s new music video is now available in 4K on YouTube. We’d love for you to watch it and share your thoughts with us!https://t.co/n1bhFiH1IJ pic.twitter.com/kjmGnqoe9W— Kim Hyung Tae, 김형태, キム・ヒョンテ (@jamm3rd) July 31, 2026
But the company’s biggest fan account was not polite.
“Where’s the artistry from a company founded and run by artists?” it asked. “I can’t help but feel profoundly disappointed.”
The song itself is actually really good, as you’d expect from Shift Up. And I like the visual identity of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, which definitely captures that urban flavour of cities like Chongqing as well as Hong Kong’s infamous “monster building”.
I can understand using AI to “create” fun content
But OFFICIAL? for the fans?
Where’s the artistry from a company founded and run by artists?
That’s what makes it so jarring, even if it was just made for ‘funsies’
I can’t help but feel profoundly disappointed @jamm3rd.. 🫤 pic.twitter.com/idA3YYI2JU
— Stellar Blade | NIKKE | Destiny Child | 🍑✨ (@ShiftUpWorld) July 31, 2026
But the generative AI itself is nightmare-inducing and concerning.
Korea seems to have a completely different relationship with generative AI than the rest of the world, and I think at this point we probably have to accept Blood Rain is going to be absolutely riddled with it.
As one of the biggest fans of Stellar Blade around, this is a colossal bummer for me.
[source youtube.com]
Related Games
See Also
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.