While some of the world’s more puritanical individuals have found themselves clutching their pearls over the adult mod potential of Stellar Blade‘s PC release, game director Hyung-Tae Kim has no interest in trying to police fans’ creative interests, as not only does he believe it to be a fool’s errand, but he is also a strong proponent of ‘customer ownership’.
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Kim, who also serves as the CEO of Stellar Blade developer ShiftUp, offered his thoughts on the concept of modding, especially as it pertains to Eve and company, during a recent interview given to South Korean video game news outlet This Is Game.
Amidst a larger conversation regarding the ins and outs of the game’s recently released PC edition, as machine translated by Chat GPT, the director was at one point pressed by his host, “The protagonist Eve is a very appealing sales point in and of herself. Because of that, she’s also been subject to preconceived notions, especially overseas. One common issue with character-centric games is data modification—specifically, the use of mods. What is your stance or policy regarding this?”
In turn, Kim straight-forwardly asserted, “We don’t have any set policy on this. In fact, data modification can range from simply increasing the game speed to completely altering the gameplay itself. As long as it’s not being abused, I believe mods can play a positive role by expanding the scope and experience of the game.”
“So overall, I view them favorably,” he added. “That said, there are cases where things approach hacking or interfere with the proper functioning of the game. In those cases, we ask that users be mindful when applying such changes.”
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Further, Kim opined, “Modders still need to ramp up their firepower a bit. It’s still lacking. At this point, I think the official content still has the upper hand.”
“Since we don’t provide an official modding tool, it’s unlikely we’ll see total conversions of the game, but I’m hopeful we’ll start seeing mods that subtly change the way the game is enjoyed,” he said. “Of course, new outfits or monster visuals would be great, but I’d be really excited to see mods that expand the player’s experience in a meaningful way.”
To this end, Kim was then pressed for his “stance on adult-rated skins”, with his host asking him whether “nude patches should be regulated, or do you view them as a matter of user choice?”
Standing firm, the Shift Up CEO affirmed “Stellar Blade is rated for adults only, so I don’t think there’s a strong justification for regulating such mods.”
“Realistically, there’s no effective way to regulate them anyway,” he admitted. “As you probably know, mods have never truly been under full control of the developers. What I am concerned about, though, is not so much the existence of such patches, but the idea of people profiting from them by selling them at high prices. I’d much rather see people enjoying a culture of creation together—like a big party where everyone contributes.”
Closing out this portion of their time together, Kim declared, “Ultimately, it’s a matter of user freedom. Once a person owns the game, how they choose to enjoy it is entirely up to them.”
“So no, we don’t have plans to regulate that kind of content,” he concluded. “I just trust that everyone is a mature member of society and will act within common sense, being mindful of sensitive or antisocial content.”
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