'That May Be a Personal Taste.' Stellar Blade Director Revealed Origin of Unusual Collectibles in New Action RPG. Their Realism Was to Be Enhanced by Collaboration With Pepsi
The director of Stellar Blade, in a recent interview, shared some information about a certain type of „collectibles” available in the game, which were meticulously designed, and intended to be created in collaboration with a global brand.
A few days ago there was a premiere of Stellar Blade, a PlayStation 5 exclusive title from the Shift Up studio. The game garnered highly positive reviews, and the title quickly gained attention - not just because of the appealing protagonist.
On the occasion of the game's release, its director, Hyung-Tae Kim, spoke out. In an interesting interview published on GameInformer.com, he revealed, among other things, the inspirations that guided him while designing the discussed title.
In this entire conversation, the part about... cans particularly caught my attention. Yes, cans, like the ones in which soda is sold. In the post-apocalyptic world of Stellar Blade, they represent a symbol of the old world, having a collectible value both in the past and present. By collecting beverage packaging, we can count on various benefits.
What catches the eye in Stellar Blade is the care with which these cans were designed. It turns out that these items were of particular importance to the game director, and this explains their perfect execution.
That may be a personal taste. I personally like different can designs. And also, I thought it'd be more realistic to use cans where the Earth is ruined. As one of the preserved goods, cans would make more sense than other elements.
Even more intriguing is the fact that the director of Stellar Blade initially sought to have these cans produced in collaboration with major companies in the sweet beverage industry, but they declined.
For this reason, it was finally decided to employ a person who was responsible only for the "collectibles-can" projects. Despite this, Hyung-Tae Kim doesn't give up hope of collaborating with brands such as Pepsi in the future.
We tried to, but no can brands would partner with us to have a collaboration, so we had to create them [cans] all originally in-house. We also consulted someone who is an expert in designing can packaging. We hired that person to come up with designs that would make them look real. In the future, hopefully, we'll be able to have a collaboration with a real-life brand. Especially Pepsi, which we are very interested in.
Who knows, perhaps during the second installment of Stellar Blade Eve, or another character, will appear on the packaging of real beverages. One thing is certain, after the success of Stellar Blade, the negotiating position of Shift Up studio in this matter is much stronger than before the game's premiere.
