Stellar Blade Blood Rain: Sequel Announced at SGF 2026

Shift Up officially revealed Stellar Blade Blood Rain at Summer Game Fest 2026 on June 5, introducing a new protagonist named Evie. A 3-minute 30-second trailer, captured entirely from in-game footage on PC, was shown for the first time. The sequel picks up directly after the events of the original 2024 game and arrives with a notable business change: Shift Up is self-publishing this time.

Stellar Blade Blood Rain is the sequel to 2024's Stellar Blade, developed by Shift Up and self-published. It introduces new protagonist Evie. No platforms or release date have been confirmed. The game is described as early in development.

Shift Up dropped a 3-minute 30-second debut trailer that the studio confirmed was captured entirely from in-game footage running on PC. The trailer opens with an in-engine cinematic that establishes the tone and setting before transitioning into gameplay.

The world looks immediately familiar in visual language but notably expanded in scope. Where the original was set across a desolate post-apocalyptic Earth with crumbling ruins, Blood Rain shows something closer to a dense, populated cyberpunk-style city. Evie walks through crowds along train tracks, moving through an environment with far more visible life than the wasteland of the first game.

The studio statement: "Stellar Blade Blood Rain marks the next chapter in the acclaimed action adventure franchise being developed by the original team."

The most strategically significant thing is the business decision. The original Stellar Blade was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is why it launched as a PS5 exclusive in April 2024.

The original sold an estimated one million copies within its first two months on PS5 alone. When it came to PC via Steam in June 2025, it reached over 100,000 concurrent users. Total sales crossed three million units by June 2025.

That success earned Shift Up the leverage to keep Blood Rain in-house. The game is no longer automatically tied to PlayStation exclusivity. Recent Shift Up job listings hinted at multiplatform ambition, suggesting PlayStation, PC, and potentially Xbox from day one.

The new protagonist is named Evie. She is distinct from Eve, the protagonist of the first game, despite the similar name. Details are limited to what the trailer shows. She navigates a populated urban environment, setting her apart from Eve's experience of moving through empty ruins.

Blood Rain appears to explore the aftermath of Eve's battle against the Naytiba threat. The studio called it a continuation of the story, not a reboot, which leaves the door open for connections between the two characters. Evie carries the same visual DNA as her predecessor, rooted in the Korean manhwa aesthetic developed by studio head Kim Hyung-tae.

Stellar Blade launched April 26, 2024 after years as Project Eve. Eve is a member of the 7th Airborne Squad, deployed from the Colony space station to reclaim Earth from the Naytiba, an alien race that has driven humanity to extinction. Her squad is destroyed on arrival. She survives alone, rescued by a man named Adam, who leads her to the last surviving city, Xion.

The combat system built its identity around precise parrying and evasion. Reviews praised the combat and visuals sharply. The game was frequently compared to Nier Automata. The PC version on Steam in June 2025 reached over 100,000 concurrent users, confirming the audience size.

• Announced at Summer Game Fest 2026 on June 5
• Developed by Shift Up, self-published
• New protagonist Evie, distinct from Eve
• Trailer captured from in-game footage on PC
• Original team is working on the sequel
• No platforms confirmed, multiplatform hinted by job listings
• Original sold three million units across PS5 and PC by June 2025
• Studio head Kim Hyung-tae continues to lead design