Stellar Blade, the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive, has been slapped with an 18+ rating because of the design of the game’s protagonist and the action-packed gameplay. If you’ve seen the recent trailer during Sony’s State of Play then this shouldn’t be much of a shock, because the gameplay shows Eve slicing and dicing foes with a whole lot of blood and gore everywhere you look.
Remember that this 18+ rating for Stellar Blade has been set for Korea only for now. But it is quite likely that the rating will also be similar in the West. But considering how a game like Doom Eternal got a 17+ rating when it was released it is Eve’s choice in wardrobe that is raising some eyebrows here. This will mean that some players who were very excited to play Stellar Blade will not be able to buy it because of the age restrictions. Developer Shift Up has been quite open about their design philosophy and how they modeled Stellar Blade’s protagonist based on a Korean model named Jae-Eun.
Stellar Blade 18+ Rating a Double-Edged Sword
At first glance Eve’s normal costume may not be that bad, the game will have a lot more costumes after launch. And some of those skins won’t leave much to the imagination. According to the developers, Eve will have 30 different costumes to discover over the course of the game, and that’s not even taking into account other cosmetic accessories.
The mature or 18+ rating may seem bad for Stellar Blade fans, but it will likely be the opposite. Some fans on social media are stoked that the developers aren’t holding back their vision to conform to any standards, and plus, most hack-and-slash game fans enjoy their fair share of monster dismemberment.
Stellar Blade has yet to be rated in the US and Europe. But it will probably be rated PEGI 18 and M for Mature when it comes out on April 26, 2024, exclusively on the PlayStation 5.
