Stellar Blade Game Controversy Explained

The PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade has finally released, five years after its announcement, but it has done so with several major controversies.

Why Is Stellar Blade Controversial?

Even before Stellar Blade released, the PS5 exclusive was facing backlash for its female playable character Eve. Many have criticized developer Shift Up for the character's design, claiming she has been oversexualized to appeal to men.

The design has drawn mixed reactions, with some outraged and others praising Stellar Blade for being traditional not woke. Some have even labelled Eve as an "anti-woke symbol" in age where plenty of new media is criticized for conforming to more modern and traditional values. 

With Stellar Blade now out in the open, the game has faced backlash for including graffiti of the word "HARD" spray-painted next to a sign for the "R shop," leaving the term "Hard R" marked on the walls of the Japanese title.

"Hard R" is often used when reffering to the word "n***er" - a racial slur for Black people that is considered among the most offensive words in the English language.

An official statement from Sony (via IGN) after the artwork was uncovered in the PS5 demo called the placement of the two graphics "unintentional" and confirmed it will be replaced with a Day One patch:

“The placement of two graphics near each other in Stellar Blade resulted in an unintentional objectionable phrase. Shift Up had no intention of creating offensive artwork and will be replacing the graffiti for the Day 1 patch."

Part of the controversy from Stellar Blade comes in how it was first advertised as a multi-platform release for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC called Project Eve. However, the game was later acquired by Sony and became advertised as a "PlayStation 5 Console Exclusive."

Due to the change in plans for the game's release, many Xbox and PC players who were excited by the original reveal have been left disappointed as they are unable to play Stellar Blade with no sign of that changing in the future.

[ Will Stellar Blade Ever Release on Xbox? ]

Stellar Blade is available now for PS5.