Shift Up head defends AI-generated Blood Rain video amid Evie backlash

Developed over time first seen 1 month ago

PC Gamer · 1 month ago

On 31 July 2026, Shift Up published "Blood Rain", a fully AI-generated, K-pop-style music video on its YouTube channel to promote the forthcoming Stellar Blade 2. The video features protagonist Evie singing and dancing to a track titled "Wanna Be in Love", with the character, backgrounds and animation generated by artificial intelligence rather than hand-crafted by the studio's artists, marking a departure from the marketing approach used for the original game. The release quickly drew criticism from fans, who pointed to visual flaws such as duplicated figures, inconsistent facial features and garbled on-screen text, alongside broader unease that using AI for finished promotional material risked tarnishing the brand and undermining the credibility of the studio's genuinely hand-made artwork. Some commentators also noted threats to cancel pre-orders for the sequel. The backlash followed an earlier controversy in June 2026 over changes to Evie's design and posing at her Summer Game Fest reveal, which had already left some fans wary of the studio's creative direction.

Shift Up chief executive Kim Hyung-tae responded to the criticism on X (formerly Twitter), defending the video on the grounds that the AI was not generating Evie "from scratch". He said the character "was created from head to toe by our talented artists and modelers through more than a year of dedicated work", and that the AI tool had simply rendered and presented her using the data, designs and craftsmanship the team had already produced. PC Gamer and other outlets argued this response missed the substance of fans' complaints, which centred not on doubts about Evie's originally human-made design but on the quality and appropriateness of using AI to generate the finished promotional video itself. Kim has previously argued that AI tools help Shift Up, a studio of roughly 150 staff, compete with much larger Chinese rivals fielding thousands of developers. As of the latest reporting, Shift Up had not withdrawn the video or issued any further clarifying statement beyond Kim's initial defence.

Shift Up released an entirely AI-generated "Blood Rain" music video starring Stellar Blade's Evie on 31 July 2026 to promote Stellar Blade 2
Fans criticised visual glitches and the use of AI over artists for finished promotional content, with some threatening to cancel pre-orders
CEO Kim Hyung-tae defended the video by noting Evie's original design was hand-crafted by artists, but critics said this missed the point of their complaint
No further statement or removal of the video has been reported since Kim's defence

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South Korean studio Shift Up has found itself defending a promotional music video for its upcoming Stellar Blade sequel, Blood Rain, after the clip's heavy use of generative AI provoked a strongly negative reaction from fans. The video, titled 'Wanna Be in LOVE' feat. Evie, was uploaded to Shift Up's YouTube channel on 31 July and presents a K-pop-style pop song performed by Evie, the new lead character being introduced for Blood Rain, set within Stellar Blade's futuristic world. A mock 'behind the scenes' segment follows the song, showing the Shift Up team apparently interacting with Evie, and the description explicitly states that the video was made using in-game assets 'regenerated with AI support', with the credits crediting the studio's in-house AI Labs division alongside Second Eve Studio.

Viewers quickly seized on visual inconsistencies that they said betrayed the video's AI origins: crowds of background characters that looked identical, as though duplicated; faces that subtly changed shape between shots; and shop signage rendered as garbled, unreadable text. Several also felt Evie's own appearance was inconsistent throughout, with a soft, airbrushed quality to much of the footage. The backlash was described by multiple outlets as overwhelmingly hostile, with the phrase 'AI slop' trending across X, Reddit and the video's own YouTube comments. Commenters contrasted the clip unfavourably with the acclaimed visual polish of the original Stellar Blade, which was praised on its 2024 release for its detailed environments and fluid animation, and questioned why a studio capable of such work would release something they regarded as rough or careless for a high-profile marketing push.

Shift Up's chief executive, Kim Hyung-Tae, addressed the criticism directly on X, seeking to clarify how the video had been produced. He stressed that Evie herself was the product of over a year of work by the studio's artists and modellers, and argued that the AI had not generated the character from nothing but had instead rendered and arranged scenes using assets his team had created, asking critics to judge the video with that distinction in mind. The response did little to quell the anger, and some accused Kim of misunderstanding the substance of fans' complaints. Detractors argued that regardless of how the underlying artwork was produced, the AI-driven rendering process visibly distorted Evie's design and undermined the craftsmanship of the artists involved, with some suggesting that fewer, shorter hand-animated cinematics would have been preferable and warning that the episode risked tarring the studio's future work, AI-assisted or not, with the same 'slop' label.

The row has renewed scrutiny of Kim's broader stance on artificial intelligence in game development. Earlier this year he argued that Korean studios, which he said typically field around 150 people per project compared with the 1,000 to 2,000 deployed by Chinese competitors, could not match that scale without leaning on AI tools, and maintained that this need not cost jobs since it could let individual staff produce far more output. Several reports noted that Kim himself had promoted the music video on X and invited feedback, receiving a flood of critical replies in response. It was also widely pointed out that the video is only a promotional piece for Blood Rain and not a reflection of the game itself, though commentators said the controversy had nonetheless dented some fans' enthusiasm ahead of its release.

Where outlets differ

PC Gamer's framing is the most pointed, with its headline asserting the CEO 'completely misses the point' of the backlash, whereas the other reports present his explanation more neutrally before noting fans' negative reaction to it.

One report goes into the most detail on the specific visual glitches (duplicated crowds, shifting faces, distorted shop signage) and draws the sharpest contrast with the original Stellar Blade's visual reputation.

Another source focuses more on the video's content itself — the mock 'making of' segment and the explicit AI disclosure text/credits — and gathers a wider spread of sarcastic fan and Reddit reactions.

Coverage differs on which of Kim Hyung-Tae's past AI comments is emphasised: one report highlights his remarks on Korea-versus-China staffing levels, while another stresses his added claim that AI lets 'one person perform the work of 100 people' without causing job losses.

Only some reports explicitly note that the video is merely promotional material and not indicative of the actual game's content.

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Originally published by PC Gamer as “Stellar Blade boss completely misses the point of why people are upset with Blood Rain’s AI slop video: ‘The AI is not creating [Evie] from scratch’”.