Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung Tae has defended the studio's use of an AI-generated music video promoting Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, after players criticised its poor quality on social media. The video, posted to the official Shift Up YouTube channel in late July, shows protagonist EVIE singing an original song titled "Wanna be in Love", but drew mockery for nonsensical lyrics, graphical warping and an unflattering blur filter, becoming a talking point about the current limitations of AI-generated content.

Responding directly to a critical user on X, Kim stressed that EVIE herself was hand-crafted by artists and modellers over more than a year, and that the AI was merely rendering the character using that existing work rather than creating her from nothing. This aligns with comments he made earlier in the year describing AI as "essential" for competing with Chinese studios, which he said can pour 1,000 to 2,000 staff into a single game compared with Shift Up's roughly 150, given that 80% of the company's revenue comes from overseas markets. Stellar Blade: Blood Rain remains without a confirmed release date, though it is expected sometime in 2027.