We knew that Shift Up was working on a Stellar Blade sequel, but I'm not sure anyone was expecting that sequel to be shown off quite this soon. The follow-up to Eve's debut got a bumper trailer at Summer Game Fest starring an all-new protagonist.

Stellar Blade's Sequel Is Called Blood Rain And Introduces A New Lead

Shift Up

Dubbed Stellar Blade Blood Rain, the trailer follows the sequel's new character as she sneaks through and then eventually fights through a futuristic city that gave off serious Stellar Blade vibes before the title card had even been revealed. It also seemed like the new character was taking orders from Eve over her earpiece.

Shift Up has been openly discussing plans for its Stellar Blade sequel for a while, but the last we heard, it still seemed like it might be a long way off. The studio was scouting locations at the beginning of the year, and as recently as April, Shift Up noted that it wouldn't have anything to show until the sequel had reached a "satisfactory quality".

No Release Date Revealed For Blood Rain, Yet

Shift Up

Clearly, Shift Up believes it has reached that point. Blood Rain certainly looks like it's in a good place. After being shown the cutscene that introduces its new protagonist, we were also treated to quite a bit of gameplay, some of it reminiscent of what Eve was capable of in the first game, and some new skills that the unnamed lead will bring to the table in its follow-up.

There was neither a release date nor a release window attached to the trailer, but Shift Up has hinted at when its Stellar Blade sequel might be released. Likely launching in 2027, and best of all, it won't be a PlayStation exclusive this time. Not only has Shift Up revealed plans to self-publish Blood Rain, but it also intends to release the sequel on multiple platforms at the same time.

While that might not mean Xbox - the first game still isn't available on that platform - it will almost certainly mean Blood Rain launches on PS5 and PC at the same time. Whereas most PS5 exclusives failed to leave a mark on PC to the point that PlayStation won't put its single-player exclusives on the platform anymore, Stellar Blade was the exception, outperforming every other PlayStation exclusive on Steam by quite some distance.

3.5/5 Stellar Blade Like Follow Followed Action RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 81% Released April 26, 2024 ESRB M for Mature Developer(s) Shift Up Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment 5 Images Close
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