'Evie Was Created by Our Talented Artists': Stellar Blade Dev Responds to 'AI Slop' Accusations

Three boobs and fourteen fingers but hey, at least there's only two eyes.

Time for a civilised, calm discussion over a good British high noon tea.

(This sucks though)

Is this an indication that we may find generative AI on Blood Rain?

If this was not created by GenAI and was instead created by actual artists do you think it would have released in this state? In terms of quality. I would like to think the actual artists at Shift Up would hold themselves to a higher standard than that. Hyung Kim Tae cut his teeth as a legit character designer and artists, I still have one of his original artbooks from the early 2000s, what happened that he just decided to let garbage like this pass? Or the text in the reveal trailer? Its pretty depressing.

Feels like this company has only been going downward ever since they moved away from Sony.

The genie is out of the bottle, and this will be the future of a lot of entertainment.

As the quality gets better and better by the year, the arguments of "AI Slop" will fade among younger consumers and then all consumers.

The quality here is pretty good, although not up to human standards yet. It won't be long before we can tell the difference, though, with the rapid improvement in Gen AI over the last 18 months alone.

It's not what we 30+ folks want to hear, but it's true.

Probably will skip the game if gen-AI is being used.
The first game was good, but not special in my opinion, and the sequel will suffer if it uses gen-AI to any extent.

I, like many other people, am tired of both AI music and videos that have flooded the internet in the past couple years. However, I'd still wager that the game itself will be just as good as the orginal Stellar Blade. That initial trailer was impressive.

People need to get a life I see AI ads everyday on the tv nobody cares but if it's somehow connected to gaming the pickforks are out!
Life is short try enjoy it AI isn't going anywhere no worth the stress in my opinion

I love the word "slop", it's great for filtering people out.

@Swandivetotheasphalt Lost for words....

Love Stellar Blade but I hate this nonsense.

Perhaps there is some art in an AI creating art for a character who themselves is an AI

Song is a banger but not crazy about the rest of it. Way too much reliance on AI. It should be used as a tool, not a crutch. Still can't help but be excited for the game though.

@Swandivetotheasphalt Gurl what in the actual f*ck?!

@Swandivetotheasphalt No hun, the issue is that they sexualized her in the creepiest way possible while making her look like a 14-year-old girl, so I hope you understand why Sammy and I were taken aback by your comment...

@get2sammyb I'll reserve judgement. This falls into the category of things that wouldn't have existed if not for AI (for better or worse). They wouldn't have spent literal millions on high quality CG for a music video.

Same thing with the promotional video. Placeholder content shouldn't have been publicly demoed but there's nothing indicating it'll be in the final. If by release there is nothing obnoxious that ruins immersion or world building, I have no complaints.

@Swandivetotheasphalt LOL she was designed by the dev team to look like that for the sole purpose of attracting a specific type of audience... This isn't the place to discuss something like this but I'll leave you with a popular "explanation" that creeps use to justify this behavior: ACTUALLY IT'S A THOUSAND YEAR OLD DRAGON!!1!

When she looked at that can and softly smiled, I felt that. Anyway, here's a video with actual soul to compensate:
https://youtu.be/_2quiyHfJQw?is=hlERmYdjQ_oqwkhz

@Divergent95 Stellar Blade has sold over 6 million copies.

@Swandivetotheasphalt If that's the case, then why do they have her in a skin suit, accentuating her boobs and butt; plus in full makeup? If she's meant to be a child, then they're really going out their way to adultise her. It looks sexualised to me; even if it's not explicit. They know what they're doing and it's icky.

@JB_Whiting CLOCK THAT TEA.

Why is she singing in Japanese?

AI Slop and Gooner Games? seems like a perfect match

@Herculean That’s absolutely correct, all research points to the younger generation being the most opposed to AI usage. It’s those over 40 who are the most open/least likely to care. That’s why I have faith that it’s all going to collapse. That and the fact that any profit pipelines are dubious at best and that the entire industry is a deck of cards being held up by fraudulent investment.

@Swandivetotheasphalt As my own daughter used to say before I reminded her the comment predated her 16 year old self by quite a wide margin.

You need to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Don't be the guy to die on the hill defending a clearly sexualised adolescent model in a game, honestly, let the South Korean and Japanese men do that on everyone's behalf.

And also F data farms using AI unless used for the health and betterment of the world. (Pipe Dream of course)

Keep loading the (AI) slop into the trough. The pigs who root for it are more than happy to consume that garbage.

@nessisonett I'm glad to be one of those 40+ who think gen AI is total garbage.

@ButteredCrumpet He either deleted his profile or blocked me lmaoo. But you read him to filth in the nicest way possible LOL!

@Divergent95 they deleted their profile.

@ElPenitente Yup. I mean, I feel a bit bad; it wasn't my intention to start this dogpile on him, but his response felt off and completely tone deaf considering the extremely problematic design of the protagonist...

All we need to do is stop feeding the AI algorithms and ignore everything that gets slopped out then it will eventually wither away and die. Unfortunately, the masses have gone too far down the crap hole and will never be able to climb back out.

@Divergent95 don't feel bad. These people need to be dogpiled on.

I guess I just don’t understand the AI slop hate, other than the virtue signal, when 99% of advertising is just human slop. Seriously, people think all advertising is Apple and Bud Light commercials. Like, that’s the gold standard, 1% advertising. 99% of the rest is literal garbage just produced by humans instead.

...it's that 13 year old girl winking and smiling at the camera again. there is a certain demographic that can't get enough of that... the real concern isn't the AI slop (it sucks of course), but how young they made her look. if you are aiming for sex appeal, at least make her look old enough to be of legal age maybe? and the last bit in the video with the FAKE behind the scenes/making of video was cringey as hell haha.

@For-Kier I don't understand the sucking up people do for gen AI slop. Why don't you enlighten us with your knowledge on how slop AI is beneficial for everyone?

Everything about this is terrible

They knew what they were doing when they made that character. She will be very popular lol.

@For-Kier people here have such a raging hateboner for AI that they forget that humans can suck at their job.

@For-Kier Even ignoring all the rightful criticisms of AI itself, human slop is still leagues above AI slop.

The Room is an uncanny disaster, yet still has the humanity and warmth AI ostensibly just can't replicate.

@Dalamar In the context of quality, I think it's more about how AI art can only equate to the most soulless, boring human art. For any piece of human slop, there's about a dozen works displaying effort, intent, and creativity — even if competence isn't always a feature. AI art can just barely compare to the worst human art.

I also think it's important to remember that people actually quite hated that generic, corporate animated stuff the tech industry was advertising with a few years back. We just instinctually identify and dislike textureless art.

@Sunraku Can I have a woke anime AI girl boss waifu?

@RoomWithaMoose I don't know about "people", but I personally would watch a dozen of Pengmin cartoons over one Avatar or Bond with Craig movies.

@Dalamar What's a Pengmin and should I be mad about it?

Well, I don't have to play the sequel. The first one had a fun demo and is waiting in my enormous backlog.

But I don't have to buy, play or support their subsequent lack of efforts and (even cringier) sexualizations.

@RoomWithaMoose I looked it up and it's a character taken from a game, turned into a little penguin with a girl face that's used in a bunch of AI slop videos.

@RoomWithaMoose any idea if youtube links are allowed here?

@Dalamar I posted one on this thread and that comment's still up. So presumably yes.

@RoomWithaMoose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7NsCXuibJA

Keep complaining guys, well defeat AI just like how we're convincing Sony to keep physical gaming alive! (By that I mean the whining has been completely ineffective)

@Dalamar Eh, I reckon it's all right. It does actually have intent, so that's cool.

Still, its AI-ness really just holds it back. Logical inconsistencies, noticable continuity errors, bad sound direction, inconsistent scene transitions. It's all very distracting.

Compared to something like Avatar, I can see where you're coming from with your preference. But I likewise don't think you're appreciating the artistry that goes into making those movies the technical marvels they are. Yes, they are banal, but they've still a lot of artistic merit.

@RoomWithaMoose I'm not trying to make a point that Hollywood moneymakers don't have artistic merit. It's just that their merit does nothing for me, opposed to wholesome cartoons.

I'm personally not surprised at all that the studio who made Stellar Blade would be all-in on gen AI. And that's all I'm gonna say about that game.

Sure the music is pretty catchy but the video looks weird with bad lip sync and how the characters moves didn't feels / looks natural. As expected from A.I videos.

The weird thing is i bet Shift Up have plenty of talents who can produce and edit a good music video without using A.I. They can easily avoid this situation and didn't upset their fans who didn't like how AI take more role in video games. So i'm not sure why they're doing this...

Sooo done with this stuff. Seriously. Just stop with the AI garbage. At least if you’re going to use it, put in a disclaimer. It feels like a scam.

Well, gamers, you really wanted Shift Up to finally break free from Sony. Enjoy what you wished for.

Between switching to hand-to-hand combat and the Chris Hanson worthy protagonist, I didn't need another reason to skip this game, but I guess I'll take it.

@PuppetMaster I get where you're coming from, but those artists are working around the clock on SB2 and have a different skillset. Most AAA studios (outside of the few with dedicated CG departments) outsource promotional CG to shops like Goodbye Kansas or Blur. Doing so comes with a lead time of 3-6 months from pitch to product, and the adage of "million dollars a minute" is often not hyperbole. It's too early for game footage, so without AI this would have just been promoted with cover art - which... likely would have been better.

The silver lining, as I see it, is if the AI division has time to make slop like this, they hopefully aren't too involved in actual production.

Welp.
I wasn't stoked on the upcoming sequel to begin with(first game had promise but felt rough in a lot of places) so I think I will gladly skip it and take my money elsewhere.
Remember people, vote with your wallets!

@Herculean Correct. It's complete rubbish to think they want this stuff. The younger people I know when authenticity and sincerity. They don't want this corporate AI slop.

I don't get it. I think it looks great, and while I can't understand a word, sounds good too.

If the entire thing is AI-generated, then that's less interesting to me. But if even 20% of it is from in-game clips, then it's a great video.

If they used AI primarily for the parts where the character is singing with a microphone, I honestly don't care - why spend developer and artist resources on that, when they might be heads-down working on finishing the game? If any of the other pieces of the video are in-game content clipped into the video, then that makes up for any AI in it.

Look, it's not like this is all hand-drawn art - everything you see when you're playing a modern game is all computer-generated on some level, even if it's based on models originally created by hand. The tech is changing, will continue to change, and at some point you won't be able to tell what's AI-generated just by looking.

@Herculean We shall see, but I suspect this will go the same way as most new and emerging tech in the past, especially with the amount of money and resources being pumped into it.

I remember the pushback on the internet, digitisation of music, Social media like TikTok, Live Service games, and even too much CGI in films. Most people have accepted and adopted it in the past, as they do with most new things. Younger people typically adopt it first before older generations get on board (Social media, Mobile Phones, Internet, Digtial games, films, and music).

If you have any links to these studies you mentioned, please share.

@nessisonett Could you please provide me with a link to these studies? I am just under 40 and indifferent to AI, and most of my peers and my teenage kids are indifferent or use stuff like ChatGPT for studies and other things.

GG bruh , as a lover of the first game this is heatbreaking, not touching the sequel with a 10 foot pole. yes its that serious

@Athrum I was surprised by this as well... Maybe because Japanese is considered to be more popular in the western world?

Weird she's singing in Japanese. Also I found Stellar Blade just average at best. Never felt more underwhelmed by a game so hyped up by the internet. I think people excused so many issues because of the protagonist. Now seeing people hold Shift Up to the same high standards as the do for example CDPR and to be found lacking is funny to me.

I liked Stellar Blade but I don’t get the furor over this video. The upbeat song seemed at odds with the dystopian setting but while the visuals weren’t great they were about what I’d expect.

While things have improved of late games have a long tradition of bizarre and bad forays outside of gaming (does anyone else remember the OG Final Fantasy movie?).

Waiting for the vastly improved, grok made Odyssey movie. Nothing cries creativity more than a pasty Elon making some misguided prompts. You know, if for the historical integrity.

God you even see how choppy it looks lol. It's such a good song too.

@LofiPie27 While the protagonist being attractive certainly helps that's not the only thing that made it a great game to people and myself included. The gameplay while slightly unfocused in areas is a lot of fun. The Sekiro like combat(They nailed the deflect sound effect as well), traversal, and setpieces all made it fun to keep playing through. Not only that but the amount of outfits to go out and collect was really fun to do. And you get even more outfits to collect in ng+. Also the soundtrack had some of my favorite tracks to listen to on repeat and especially the song Enya sings.

My main issues with this game though is the art design(Mainly the open areas because come on 2 desert maps? That's just lazy), a lot of the character designs are very lackluster and even the civilians who just look like jumbled mess of robot pieces mashed together. The writing has some form of potential but it is not focused in a lot of areas and especially when it comes to the characters like Tachy who just dies off without practically ANY character development despite it seemingly being Eve's closest friend. Last thing I would say is a main issue is the quests and especially on the quest board where nearly every single quest is just, "Hey go find this person, oh wait they died, time to go back." If they could fix all of these issues it is well on its way to becoming legendary status in it's sequel in my book.

Oh no, a company did a non-serious thing and now people are upset at how they did the non-serious thing.

AI may look realistic but it's always the same without any soul. South Korea is a great place for that with one beauty standard if your not like that your a failure. Little respect to women and let's be real this is a gooner game anyway. Great first game that was already made from a body and made up face.

@Nepp67 That is why I lov Elden Ring all these little details make such a great game where people find out stuff years later.

@tameshiyaku it'll be called The Slopyssey, starring Grok's favourite, CSAM.

They'll keep doing it. And it'll probably get better over time. And that's how games will. More less be made. Using unbelievable power usage. Reeking havoc on the Environment and noise pollution around nearby neighborhoods. Sucking up all the water for cooling. Ya, Ai is the way to go. "Sarcasm of course"

I do find it bizarre that as an artist himself, he would post this. He also must be aware of the public opinion of generative AI.

Let's be honest, if there's one group of fans that robably watches a lot of ai generated ladies...

@Flaming_Kaiser Fromsoft is masterclass at environmental detail tbh

Don't care what you all say, this looks awesome. Getting Gravity Rush vibes.

Completely expected from this overrated company.

I'm not going to play any game that uses generative AI

@Nepp67 The problem they have is ways to save NPC's branching quest outlooks. And quest structure for people to find out without a guide.

@Random_play05 I believe the studio said they'd use some AI (although most studios have said that or at least definitely do to some degree, even if its just basic stuff like using it for coding assistance etc) and I think a lot of people said the initial trailer looked very AI.

I thought the same, although I'm not an expert. This is probably more fuel for the fire. I'd expect this studio to use AI more than others

Ewww, all morals aside (And just to note, I am not for gen AI at all), it looks terrible.

So Evie isn’t based on a real person?

I am happy we moved on from having tantrums about physical disc releases back to AI use

Next week, join us at Push Square to whinge about the price of games again

How dense are these people? Just stop using ai altogether and watch this fiasco vanish overnight. Instead they continue to poke the hornet’s nest with a stick and then wonder why they’re getting swarmed and stung.

And yall gamers still gonna buy this game, I never fell for this gooner IP

Yes we know she was crafted by your artists and turning their hard work into ai slop music video is exactly the problem. It's a slap in the face to those artists.

Can someone please be so kind and explain to me, what exactly the problem is? Much appreciated.

I wouldn't be shocked if Eve was always AI designed. She looks nothing like the model or his wife the two people she was based on. She's always had an uncanny air to her, Tifa she is not.

People who are pro-AI are so out of touch about it. No surprise he doesn’t get it.

"We would truly appreciate it if you could view the work with that understanding in mind."

My understanding is still gen-AI slop though.

They've been caught red handed and now they are damage controlling.

Turns out I’ll be getting stellar blade 2 at a very good price. Should have bought the original second hand now. Restricts profits at least, if they have ai doing the work for them.

@MidnightDragonDX I read another article elsewhere and I think it made a pretty apt comparison in saying that people cheering for AI are like Turkey's celebrating when the Christmas lights come out.