Stellar Blade Hard R Controversy Explained – What is it? Who is at fault?

The highly anticipated action-adventure video game, Stellar Blade, developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment has finally released for PS5, and it is being well received by gamers worldwide.

However, this grand release was not entirely flawless as the game developers have been constantly under fire from the player base due to a few controversies since the release of the game, especially the Hard R controversy.

What is the Stellar Blade Hard R controversy?

The Stellar Blade Hard R controversy refers to the game having a graffiti spelled “HARD” painted next to the sign of an “R Shop,” which in entirety looks like it is spelled “HARD R.” The term Hard R often refers to a racial slur directed towards black people which makes this graffiti placement so controversial.

The R Shop refers to Roxanne, who acts as one of the game’s information brokers. Therefore, placement of this graffiti has led the Stellar Blade developers and publishers to receive severe backlash from the entire gaming community.

However, in an official statement PlayStation (Sony) mentioned that, Shift Up, the game developers’ placement of the “HARD” graffiti was completely unintentional. They have further reassured the public that the graffiti in question will be removed with a Day 1 Patch.

The statement read as:

The placement of two graphics near each other in Stellar Blade resulted in an unintentional objectionable phrase. Shift Up had no intention of creating offensive artwork and will be replacing the graffiti for the Day 1 patch.

Statement by PlayStation

The error on the parts of developers and the publishers is unquestionably serious, still their willingness and quick actions to rectify the highly offensive mistake is commendable.

About Stellar Blade

The action- adventure video game Stellar Blade was created by Shift Up and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment. On April 26, 2024, it was launched for the PlayStation 5.

Played in third person, Stellar Blade takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Combat is all about anticipating your opponent’s attacks and timing your counterattacks perfectly.