The sequel to the action game Stellar Blade was once again a part of a controversy earlier this week, after the developer Shift Up uploaded an AI-generated music video in promotion of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain.
Many fans were quick to take to social media and post their disappointment and scathing criticisms of the music video, especially since most considered it not very good, as it displayed all the telltale signs of badly AI-generated content. Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung Tae replied to the criticism on Twitter/X remarkably in favor of the AI-generated music video, saying that the video was generated using the material that the game’s team created, not from scratch, and for fans to try and view the video with that in mind.
Kim Hyung had previously been in favor of using AI-generated content in development. Earlier this year, the CEO expressed his belief that AI was “essential” in development for studios, particularly those that want to go head–to-head with Chinese developers.
While it’s unlikely that Shift Up is backing down from its usage of AI, this controversy has opened the eyes of many to how differently AI usage is treated across the globe, particularly within Asian countries. Surprisingly. A study from Stanford University’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Center. Revealed that AI excitement and adoption are incredibly high in Asian countries, with 84% in China and 80% of Indonesians.
Unsurprisingly, this sentiment has bled into the video game industry in these respective countries. A 2026 poll from Japan’s Online Game Association (JOGA) and Kadokawa ASCII Laboratories revealed that 100% of Japanese developers of online games were using generative AI. That said, that usage was largely for “user preference analysis” and “user behavior prediction” instead of actually being incorporated into game development.
Games like Neverness To Everness, inZOI, have been revealed to use generative AI heavily in development, particularly through asset generation and art. However, Western games like The Finals and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have also been found to be using generative AI.
