Given the immense popularity of the commercial collaboration between South Korean developers SHIFT UP and Yoko Taro’s NieR: Automata in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, it seemed only natural that SHIFT UP’s first major release, the post-apocalyptic action RPG Stellar Blade, would garner similar attention and anticipation.
Praised for its fanservice and striking female protagonist, Stellar Blade combines hack-and-slash combat with exploration and a post-apocalyptic narrative. The game features fast-paced, combo-driven melee combat alongside RPG elements such as character upgrades, skill progression, and gear customization.
It draws comparisons to NieR: Automata, a title that, despite its success, has received virtually zero attention as Square Enix increasingly focuses on games aimed at queer audiences, prioritizing censorship, diversity, and inclusivity over appealing to gamers.
During Sony’s recent State of Play presentation, it was announced that SHIFT UP would once again collaborate with NieR: Automata, with the collaboration set to make its debut later this year, accompanied by a new photo mode update.
While no further details were revealed about the Stellar Blade and NieR: Automata collaboration, the upcoming Photo Mode feature will be part of a free update, allowing players to capture in-game photos with various poses, expressions, and filters.
This addition more certainly appeals to male audiences who appreciate sincere female representation in gaming, despite ongoing criticism from journalists.
In the months leading up to the game’s release, many in the media have repeatedly condemned the portrayal of attractive women in games, labeling it as sexist and discriminatory, even in the case of Stellar Blade’s protagonist, Eve, whose design doesn’t emphasize exaggerated features like large breasts.
Journalists were appalled and offended that SHIFT UP, the developers behind Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, a mobile gacha game known for its voluptuous robotic maidens engaging in firefights from a behind-the-ass perspective with exaggerated jiggle physics, refused to conform to the sanitized, progressive standards many other developers had adopted for female character design.
While modern game developers strip their female characters of femininity, turning them into masculine hulks with breasts, Stellar Blade’s developers defied this trend. They successfully achieved what the Western games industry has often avoided: accurately capturing and portraying the likeness of an actress, scanning her into the game with precision and respect for her original appearance.
SHIFT UP sadly shot themselves in the foot with the release of Stellar Blade, entirely due to their partnership with Sony who imposed a day-one censorship patch on the Korean studio’s debut game.
Despite promising that the game would launch uncensored days prior to release, this broken pledge resulted in modifications to the game’s gore and the toning down of revealing outfits.
This led to significant backlash, and SHIFT UP has since been on a mission to rectify the criticism and regain audience favor, despite Tencent owning a large portion of the company, which recently went public and now has to file ESG reports. SHIFT UP has continued to release updates for Stellar Blade, adding new mechanics, costumes, and more.
Notably, the censored outfits returned to the game in a future patch as alternative costumes that can be unlocked in-game. While no changes have been made to the game’s gore, SHIFT UP is still working to regain goodwill from players, with a potential PC release of Stellar Blade, the only Sony title gamers are eager for, on the horizon.
However, no announcement was made during the recent State of Play presentation.
It’s worth noting that the announcement trailer is titled “Stellar Blade – NieR: Automata DLC & Updates,” indicating that the content featuring 2B and potentially other characters will likely be released as a paid DLC expansion later this year.
This approach is certainly preferable to limited-time offerings, like Stellar Blade’s summer update, which boosted player counts by 40%.
Many Stellar Blade fans also enjoyed NieR: Automata, and the similarities between the two games haven’t gone unnoticed by gamers. Moreover, Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung-tae has openly acknowledged that NieR: Automata was a significant inspiration for his project, and that Yoko Taro’s game was better.
It’s still unclear how much content the Stellar Blade x NieR: Automata collaboration will introduce. The DLC’s tagline, “worlds collide,” could simply be flashy marketing language, but it also hints at the possibility of a larger story event.
Fans are hoping for more substantial additions, such as new story missions or even the chance to play as 2B herself. Given the reality-bending nature of both games’ narratives, there’s a real possibility that Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung-tae and NieR: Automata director Yoko Taro could craft a crossover that brings both characters into the same universe.
Such a move would undoubtedly excite fans and drive sales even if the collaboration were to be a DLC expansion, given the lucrative financial success Stellar Blade turned out to be despite lamenting as a temporary PS5 exclusive.
