The debut trailer for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain drew attention, but Shift Up then faced a PR scandal after publishing a music video featuring the main character that was created using AI, leading to attacks from opponents of artificial intelligence and the game being labeled "AI slop," with some users deciding the game itself would also be "generated." At Tokyo Game Show 2026, Shift Up boss Hyung-Tae Kim apologized for the AI clip, explaining it was one of the experiments with AI technologies conducted as part of AI Labs, and that what should have remained an experiment was released as "official content." He said the game hasn't even been released yet and players saw such experimental materials on official channels, adding he is truly sorry the studio was unable to properly distinguish between main content and internal experiments. Kim said Shift Up plans to re-engage players and will demonstrate the gameplay of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, which does not yet have a specific release date or window. The studio does not plan to abandon AI, but will now separate its experiments and main content.