Shift Up has lifted the veil on Stellar Blade: BLOOD RAIN, the official sequel to 2024’s Stellar Blade. The title’s newly released reveal trailer showcases a dystopian cyberpunk setting, and to the surprise of many, a brand-new protagonist called Evie.
As Stellar Blade director Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim recently told Famitsu, Evie’s role in the story is that of a special forces unit member that’s tracking down a group responsible for a major terrorist attack in the city. The “CDDP” logo on her back is also important to her identity, but Kim does not reveal the meaning as it could spoil the story. Another noteworthy detail is that Evie bears connection to the first game’s protagonist Eve, but the exact nature of their relationship also remains a secret for now.
According to Kim, Shift Up’s goal is to surpass the appeal of Eve with Stellar Blade’s new protagonist, especially when it comes to factors beyond appearance. “Of course, I really like Eve’s appearance too, but rather than simply creating physical attractiveness, with Evie, we’re focused on making a character that players can genuinely come to love,” he comments.
Interestingly, Kim notes that to achieve this goal, Shift Up is leveraging lessons learned from interacting with Goddess of Victory: NIKKE’s player base and observing how players form attachments to its characters. As Shift Up’s live-service third-person shooter RPG, which recently celebrated its 3.5-year anniversary, NIKKE is fundamentally a character-driven gacha where long-term engagement (and thus revenue) relies heavily on players becoming emotionally invested in the cast. In that context, the approach makes sense.
While the game’s sexy and revealing designs are an obvious factor, much of NIKKE’s success so far has been attributed to its storytelling and character writing, which encourage players to connect with its cast on a significantly deeper level than the typical harem game. If Shift Up is planning to apply that to Evie, Stellar Blade’s sequel could end up featuring a protagonist with more depth than its predecessor (which Kim has previously acknowledged as lacking in terms of narrative).
Stellar Blade: BLOOD RAIN’s release is likely still a while away though, as Kim says development is still in its early stages overall. Release platforms are also TBD, although the title has been confirmed for a multiplatform release.
Working on a gacha is probably a cheat code when it comes with designing characters for a single player game.