South Korean developer Shift Up is facing online criticism after releasing a music video for its upcoming game, Stellar Blade Blood Rain, that heavily utilizes AI. The three-minute YouTube video features the game's new protagonist, Evie, singing an original K-Pop song 'Wanna be in LOVE'. However, the character and environments are clearly generated using AI tools, and western fans have reacted negatively.
Fan Reactions
One of the top comments reads: "Your RAM just went up in price while watching this video." Another adds: "Something tells me that this is indeed not an out-of-season April Fool's joke."
Developer's Defense
Shift Up's founder, Kim Hyung Tae, took to X to explain the reasoning behind the team's use of AI. He stated: "EVIE, the character at the heart of this video, was created from head to toe by our talented artists and modelers through more than a year of dedicated work. The AI is not creating her from scratch. It is rendering and presenting the character based on the data, designs, and craftsmanship our team created. We would truly appreciate it if you could view the work with that understanding in mind."
Despite this defense, the internet's opinion remains unchanged. One reply reads: "Could u please explain what's the need to use Ai for this instead of using the talented artist at the studio? In both the animations and song in this video could have been 100% made by the artist without having to rely on Ai slop." Another chimes in: "The AI is doing your character a disservice, distorting her appearance, and in turn, making your team's art look bad, when in reality, they're so talented. I would rather have fewer, shorter cinematics of your characters made by animators than hours of uncanny AI generations."
Cultural Divide
The debacle highlights a huge gap in how AI is perceived by western and eastern cultures. A report from the Boston Consulting Group explains that the Asia Pacific region is leading the charge in AI adoption rates. Meanwhile, gamers in the west are adamant that AI should have nothing to do with game development. A survey earlier this year found that 64% of western developers think AI is having a negative impact on their work.
Future of Stellar Blade Blood Rain
Despite the backlash, Shift Up does not seem to be changing its attitude towards AI use in the creation of Stellar Blade Blood Rain. The game does not currently have a release date but is in development for PlayStation 5 and PC.
