Shift Up has revealed a range of new details about Stellar Blade: Blood Rain through a recent Famitsu interview with studio founder and director Kim Hyung Tae, translated by Genki_JPN. The upcoming action-adventure title was unveiled during Summer Game Fest 2026 and serves as a direct sequel to Stellar Blade, though it will not carry the name Stellar Blade 2.
According to Kim, the studio prefers to give each entry its own distinct title rather than following a numbered naming convention. The new game introduces a protagonist named Evie, a member of a special forces unit tasked with tracking a terrorist organization operating within a city. While Evie and the original game’s heroine Eve are connected, Kim said the nature of that relationship remains a secret for now.
Blood Rain will feature notable changes to combat and presentation. Evie initially focuses on close-quarters melee combat, highlighting a different fighting style from Eve. Additional weapons, including swords, will become available later in the story, with each weapon tied to specific narrative developments. Shift Up also plans to significantly revise the game’s user interface, with an emphasis on making information easier to read while retaining and improving the core gameplay systems that players enjoyed in the first game.
The city area shown so far represents a more linear section of the game, although players will be able to enter locations such as shops. Kim stated that the studio intends to reveal more of the city’s structure at a later date. Side content is also expected to be more extensive than in Stellar Blade.
Development on Blood Rain began roughly a year ago and remains in its early stages. Kim said the game’s art direction has already been finalized, but work continues on the latter half of the story and the depth of its combat systems.
Shift Up is also planning to self-publish the title and aims to release it on as many platforms as possible. While specific platforms have not yet been confirmed, Kim said the goal is to reach the widest possible audience. He added that the team hopes to make Evie an even more compelling character than Eve, focusing not only on appearance but also on character appeal, drawing from lessons learned during the development of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain is currently in development using Unreal Engine 5. The game does not yet have a release date.
