So for those out of the loop, Shift Up posted what appears to be a fully genAI music video starring their new protagonist Evie yesterday. It’s pretty much slop, as most expect it would be. As a Stellar Blade fan since day one it was hard to watch at first, but the ending frame caught my attention.
We get a splash screen of “CDDP’s” approval of the music video at the tail end, indicating that this is some sort of colony-wide approved propaganda. This has some important lore implications.
CDDP is the governing force of the Colony (where we now know the game is set), and it uses propaganda to distract its citizens. What interests me is that apparently the Angels are key parts of that propaganda, where their likeness is used to support the colony’s lies. The portrayal of Evie in this video is obviously VASTLY different than the serious tomboy we see in the official teaser.
I wonder if CDDP (which may be affiliated with Mother Sphere, but who knows) has used Eve’s model in this way in the past. So, what is CDDP covering up? This may lead to the existence of the extremist/terrorist group Evie is tasked with fighting.
We all know that the director of Shift Up likes AI, but the studio CAN’T be naive enough not to read the room on the issue, especially when it comes to Western audiences. But we know they thrive off controversy.
Perhaps Gen AI is actually being used as a storytelling tool — for instance, the CDDP could be using Gen AI in-universe to make such propaganda, as Evie would likely never willingly film this. So for Shift Up, instead of using your own assets to animate the video… maybe GenAI actually produces a more authentic Gen AI video, and sells the story better.
Look, it’s possible I’m wrong about all this, high on copium, and that this is a cheap stunt. But I have a feeling Shift Up wants to be taken seriously as a studio, and this is their way of stirring controversy while furthering the medium. Nobody wants Gen AI assets to replace ones that should be made by humans.
But if the Gen AI is used to make explicitly Gen AI things… then isn’t that what the tool exists for in the first place?