One of the biggest announcements coming out of Summer Game Fest 2026 was Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the sequel to Shift Up’s action hit Stellar Blade. But while we got an eye-catching debut trailer showing off a new protagonist, the platforms Blood Rain will launch on remain unconfirmed.
There’s particular interest in the day-one platforms for Blood Rain because Stellar Blade was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment as a PlayStation 5 exclusive in 2024. A PC version followed a year later, but so far there’s no Xbox Series X and S version.
Shift Up has confirmed it will self-publish Blood Rain, leaving Sony behind to go it alone. That decision has sparked questions about whether the sequel will launch on PC and Xbox Series X and S day one alongside the inevitable PS5 version. In an interview with IGN’s Simon Cardy hot on the heels of Blood Rain’s SGF reveal in Los Angeles, Shift Up CEO and director of Stellar Blade, Hyungtae Kim, said it’s too early to make a call on launch platforms, but did tease a multiplatform approach this time.
“Actually in terms of platforms, nothing has been decided yet so there’s not much we can reveal,” he said. “We just want to reach out to as many fans as possible.”
We followed up to ask if the plan was for Blood Rain, which is early in development, to launch on the current generation of consoles, now nearly six years old, or on the next generation. Hyungtae Kim replied with an interesting answer, saying Shift Up is still aiming for current-gen consoles and PCs as it has become harder to deliver significant advancement in technology amid rising costs.
“We actually see the future of computers and the consoles with a lot of issues going on,” he said. “It’s becoming more and more expensive, and it’s hard for it to become more improved or developed. So we definitely want to make sure that the game can be enjoyed for those who have the current PC and current consoles.”
This week, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said severe memory shortages fueled by the AI boom is one of the largest obstacles Microsoft’s gaming business faces. The ongoing RAM crisis leaves little room for gaming console manufacturing, with Sharma telling Bloomberg that rising RAM and storage costs are the most “uncomfortable and surprising” thing about the current state of the gaming industry.
“Usually what happens at this point in a generation is, your costs come down, right? Memory, storage, et cetera. Well, with AI, memory and storage costs are going up. 2.75x rather than 50% down,” Sharma said. “Just in my first 100 days it’s up 50%, and I think it will continue to go up.”
“‘And so, the biggest challenge and opportunity is, how do you make affordable products during that time? And that’s what the next 100 days will be about,” she continued.
Sharma was asked gamers still care enough to pay for an expensive console. “I think it’s expensive if we do not innovate,” she replied. “I came to help that problem. Look, it is natural that prices go up. Every generation around us is raising prices. But I don’t think you can raise prices through the hardware crisis that we’re seeing. And so it will require fundamental change in terms of how we innovate and how we think about the business models and how we go bring this to market, and we’re working on that.”
With that in mind, most are bracing themselves for very expensive next-generation consoles, both from Microsoft in the form of Project Helix, and Sony in what we expect to be the PlayStation 6. In May, Sony said it had yet to decide when to launch the PS6, nor how much it would cost, as memory shortages continue to hit hard. It’s worth noting recent reports that Sony may have to delay the release of the PS6 to 2028 or even 2029 as a result of the AI-fueled chip crisis.
Ultimately, it does sound like Stellar Blade: Blood Rain will launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S, we just don’t know when exactly.
Here’s everything announced at Summer Game Fest 2026 if you need a catch up on what the video game industry has in store.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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