‘Stellar Blade 2’ Will Leave Sony Behind To ‘Fully Reflect Its Identity’ In Marketing

InnovationGaming‘Stellar Blade 2’ Will Leave Sony Behind To ‘Fully Reflect Its Identity’ In MarketingByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorMay 11, 2026, 09:19am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Stellar BladeSHIFT UPShift Up, developer of Stellar Blade, has just made a big announcement that it will also be the publisher for its sequel, Stellar Blade 2.That is a change from the first game, where Stellar Blade was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which made it a PlayStation console exclusive and delayed a PC release (a PC release that blew previous Sony first-party games out of the water).This was rumored to be the way forward in the past, but now it’s official, and Shift Up’s announcement about this was interestingly worded, to say the least. Here’s what it said in its Q1 earnings presentation:“Notably, starting with this next title, Shift Up will transition to a first-party service model. This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”That’s certainly curious that they would highlight the ability to do their own marketing campaign themselves to “fully reflect the distinctive identity of Stellar Blade’.” I went back and watched some past trailers. They were fine, well-received by players, and clearly led to big sales, so I’m sort of led to the conclusion that perhaps they wanted to lean more heavily into Eve’s sex appeal, a much-lauded aspect of the game among many players. I suppose they’re not showing her…most revealing outfits? Or this means something else entirely, I’m not sure. It’s certainly unusual that this specifically was highlighted, howeve...