Stellar Blademade quite a name for itself with a rather intriguing trailer in the latestState of Play showcase. The latest preview reintroduces the game once known as “Project Eve” to viewers, featuring its post-apocalyptic story and even some supporting members that help add to the world that has only grown more interesting in the time since it was last shown off.
While the upcomingPS5exclusive has already captivated many players with its combat and visuals, not much is known aboutStellar Blade’s development both under its new title or even as “Project Eve.” Currently, all fans have to judge the game on are the two trailers freely available on YouTube, and two PlayStation blog posts made by the developer, Shift Up Corporation. However, the history of the studio creatingStellar Bladeis important in understanding why the action game is such a big deal.
RELATED:God of War Ragnarok File Size is Massive
Stellar Blade: What is Shift Up Corporation?
Shift Up Corporation is a Korean video game company that, while obscure to many English-speaking gamers, is well known for its mobile games.Destiny Childwas released in October 2016 and is still active to this day, whereas other similargacha mobile titles such asKingdom Hearts Union Xhave been shut downfor numerous reasons. Alongside the development ofStellar Blade, Shift Up is also working on a second mobile game known asNikke: Goddess of Victory, which has recently finished a focus test while reaching one million pre-registrations for the game.
Interestingly, unlikeStellar Blade, despiteNikke’slarge player count, the game has no known release date yet. However, what’s even more curious is thatStellar Blademarks the first console game Shift Up has ever developed, adding even more intrigue to the game with how beautiful it looks already despite the fact that Shift Up has been focused on 2D art for itsmobile gacha gamesfor years.
From Project Eve to Stellar Blade
Following Shift Up’s successful mobile titles, the company announced its first AAA game in April 2019. Beyond that, hardly anything was revealed about the game until “Project Eve” was first shown off during thePlaystation Showcase in 2021. This trailer featured gory aliens known as Na:tives that would remain as the title’s main enemies even after the game earned its proper title. These creatures were shown occupying abandoned spaces and subway stations, and were even shown possessing corpses despite the lingering implication that those bodies had been left alone for decades, if not centuries.
To viewers, it seemed likeProtect Evewas aiming to play likeBayonettawithResident Evil’szombie and horror elements attached to it, allowing players to dodge and beat up enemies with the agility of a flexible girl in a skin-tight suit. While this combination looked and sounded interesting, players wouldn’t get any new information on the title until almost an exact year later when it returned to theSeptember 2022 State of Play asStellar Blade, complete with a brand new trailer.
Even though the rather intriguing trailer combined with being left in the dark aboutProject Evearguably got players attached to the name, it was made rather clear with the name change that “Project Eve” was never the title of the game, but a codename instead. Codenames being used as placeholders is a common practice in the video game industry that applies to consoles as well as games, likethe Nintendo 3DSbeing known as “Project Citra” internally at Nintendo. Luckily for fans who preferred the name “Project Eve,” the code word lives on through the game’s protagonist keeping the name Eve despite the change.
However, what isn’t seen as often is the fact thatStellar Bladeonly has two mobile games behind its studio prior to its development. With how gorgeous the game looks, it’s rather surprising when one looks at Shift Up’s mobile gacha-based history that relied on 2D motion artwork for the majority of its assets. It’s clear to see when looking at the games that predate its first console game, Shift Up is a company that values its time to make a good product above everything else. Even ifStellar Bladecomes outlater than expected, or gets hit with any sort of delay, fans will certainly get a good game for their time and money if Shift Up’s previous track record is anything to go by.
Stellar Bladeis set to release in 2023 exclusively for PlayStation 5.
