Following the success of Stellar Blade, which has surpassed 3 million sales worldwide, director HYUNG-TAE KIM has announced that the confirmed sequel will delve into a more profound storyline. This decision comes after the team faced challenges in fully realizing the narrative potential of the first game.

In an interview with This Is Game, as translated by Genki, KIM explained that SHIFT UP had initially conceived a richer story for EVE and her companions. However, budgetary constraints related to cutscene production forced them to cut important portions of the cinematics, thereby impacting the overall narrative. This resulted in unanswered questions about EVE’s world, including the frequent costume changes.

While SHIFT UP considered adding cutscenes post-launch to enhance the story,KIM expressed concern that these additions might “clash” with players’ existing understanding of the game. As a result, the sequel promises a “sufficiently rich narrative” from the outset.

However, fans should not expect the sequel in the immediate future. Currently,the entire team is focused on the PC port of Stellar Blade. KIM indicated that SHIFT UP aims to release the sequel by 2027.

PC Version Success and Features

“sufficiently rich narrative”

The PC version of Stellar Blade, which launched on june 11, has become SONY’s biggest single-player STEAM launch to date. The game has achieved a concurrent player peak of over 192,000.In comparison, Ghost of Tsushima reached 77,154 players, God of War peaked at 73,529,and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered hit 66,436 players. Onyl Helldivers 2, a multiplayer title, has surpassed Stellar Blade’s concurrent player record among SONY-published games.

IGN’s Stellar Blade review gave the game a 7/10, noting its strengths in action gameplay but criticizing its “dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics.”

The PC version includes features such as NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3 for AI upscaling, an unlocked framerate, Japanese and Chinese voiceovers, ultrawide display support, higher resolution surroundings textures, and DUALSENSE support for haptic feedback and trigger effects.