Development

Stellar Blade: BLOOD RAIN is being made by SHIFT UP, the studio behind the original Stellar Blade, with Kim Hyung-tae serving as General Director. The sequel was revealed at Summer Game Fest 2026 with a debut trailer.

The project is described as being in early development, and SHIFT UP has said it is making strong progress. Kim Hyung-tae marked the reveal by saying he was thrilled to finally present the next chapter of Stellar Blade to the fans who loved the original. The studio's stated goal is to build on the stylish action, world-building, and core elements players enjoyed in the first game while evolving the universe in ambitious new ways.

The reveal at Summer Game Fest 2026 paired the in-engine gameplay trailer with key art and a set of gameplay screenshots, the first real look at the sequel. SHIFT UP has described development as progressing smoothly and on track to meet its targeted quality standards, while stressing that the project is still early.

Publishing and Release

The biggest production change is publishing. The original Stellar Blade was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, but SHIFT UP is self-publishing the sequel in house. The studio has confirmed that BLOOD RAIN will not be a PlayStation exclusive this time. Exact platforms and a release date have not been announced, and the studio has signaled that further details will come as development continues.

SHIFT UP has framed the move to self-publishing as a way to reach a broad global audience from day one and to lead marketing that reflects the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade series.

Timeline and Scope

In an interview around the reveal, General Director Kim Hyung-tae gave a sense of how far along the project is: development had only been underway for about a year as of mid-2026, which is why so much is being held back. When an interviewer raised the idea of a 2027 release, Kim was non-committal, saying it was hard to say at this stage given how early the work still is. No release year has been officially set, so 2027 should be treated as an unconfirmed target rather than a date.

Kim also addressed the naming. The game is deliberately not called "Stellar Blade 2," because giving each entry its own proper title is how the studio approaches its games. On the business side, he framed self-publishing plainly: SHIFT UP is handling publishing directly and is, in his words, not a major publisher, so the move is about reaching as many players and platforms as possible rather than operating at a large publisher's scale. The studio has also said the sequel will significantly expand side content compared with the first game, a goal covered alongside exploration on the World and Setting page.