The biggest reason for Stellar Blade’s success is its combat, says former Sony chief 

Some attribute Stellar Blade’s success on the PlayStation 5 to its sexier aspects, but former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida thinks it’s the combat that does the heavy lifting.  

In an interview with GameWatch featuring Stellar Blade director and Shift Up CEO Hyung-tae Kim, Goddess of Victory: Nikke director Hyung-seok Yoo and Shuhei Yoshida, Yoshida revealed that he first got to play a prototype of Stellar Blade back in 2019. Though the game was still going under the working title “Project Eve,” its combat was fun and engaging to the point that Yoshida offered Shift Up a Sony publishing deal (thus making Stellar Blade a timed PlayStation 5 exclusive title). 

Yoshida claims that while Stellar Blade’s character designs, technical aspects, and graphics are second to none, it is the difficult but rewarding nature of the combat that led to it becoming so successful. A departure from Shift Up’s previous work, Stellar Blade’s combat combines fluid hack-and-slash gameplay with well-timed defensive dodges and counterattacks.  

Stellar Blade’s combat has evolved since Yoshida first played it, and he commends Shift Up’s dedication to absorbing player feedback and improving the game. In turn, director Hyung-tae Kim calls Yoshida the “Mother of Stellar Blade,” as the former Sony executive was the one to notice the potential of the then-unpublished game and help deliver it to the world. 

Stellar Blade is available for PlayStation 5. A PC version is set to release on June 12. 

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