Following the 12 September reveal of Shift Up’s latest funded status, rumours have been swirling about a possible anime adaptation of the popular video game Stellar Blade. However, despite the great hyte for the possible series, we have bad news for fans of the video game.
Stellar Blade will not be a Netflix original anime
Relevant media and social media influencers quickly spread the word that one of the future projects was the production of an anime series of their first AAA video game, Stellar Blade. The news quickly spread far and wide and caused a flurry of reactions about how great it would be to see a Stellar Blade anime and related questions about what kind of censorship we might see in a Netflix adaptation.
This isn’t the only fake news that was spread, though, as it was also reported that the studio was planning to expand with the founding of a new studio in Los Angeles. However, although media outlets such as Eurogamer positioned the aforementioned as a reality, it is all false and in reality seems to be a big mix-up or rumour spread in the wake of the release of the Q3 2024 financial report.
In a statement to Japanese news portal Game Spark, Shift Up said: ‘Currently, we have no plans to establish a new studio in Los Angeles. We also have no plans to partner with Netflix to produce an anime adaptation of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE’.
Shift Up is working on Stellar Blade sequel
Despite the fake news, what is a fact is that the studio is still hard at work on Project Witches, the sequel to Stellar Blade, which is scheduled for release sometime in 2027.
And despite what many may believe, many users expressed relief when it was revealed that this was fake news and that the studio’s focus was on the sequel to its flagship AAA game. In the wake of fan reviews of recent Netflix adaptations, most of which err on the side of dubious quality, and the explicit details of this popular IP, many expected sweeping changes that could take away much of the essence that made the game so popular.
However, on the other hand, something that was a reality and is being debated a lot among gamers and specialised media, is that the Neon Genesis Evangelion collaboration with Goddess of Victory: NIKKE did not reach the company’s projected estimates, and in fact there was a decrease in revenue during that period, so the collaborative event was labeled as a failure.