Stellar Blade Director Cites Taxi Driver Strike, Retro Sci-Fi as Inspirations

The eagerly anticipated PS5 exclusive action game Stellar Blade is out at the end of the month, on 26th April. Ahead of the game’s launch, Shift Up director Kim Hyung Tae has opened up about where the inspiration for the game came from. The usual suspects, anime and sci-fi from the ’80s and ’90s, including Alita: Battle Angel, were cited, but less expected was the existential dread Hyung Tae felt after witnessing a taxi driver strike.

In an interview with the PlayStation Blog, Hyung Tae recounts the event, which he says informed Stellar Blade’s themes of humanity and survival: “The strike erupted when technologies for self-driving cars began advancing, almost hinting at the implementation of autonomous cars in the near future. This instilled fear among taxi drivers that these technologies would eventually take over and replace their jobs.”

Hyung Tae pondered the predicament: “As I watched them on strike, I asked myself what I would do if this were to happen to me, if one day humans were entirely replaced by something non-human.” The event appears to have made quite a profound impact on Hyung Tae, as he concludes: “This is where the theme for Stellar Blade originates”.