Stellar Blade officially launches for PS5 on April 26, with the game seeing generally favorable reviews so far. However, the game isn’t without criticism, and developer Shift Up is addressing at least two of them with its pre-launch 1.002 update. Specifically, it adds New Game+ and removes some unintentionally offensive graffiti.
Stellar Balde day one patch adds New Game+, removes “Hard R Shop” graffiti
Shift Up hasn’t shared Stellar Blade’s 1.002 patch notes, though the most significant addition is that of New Game+. Developers originally announced it was coming soon, which some took to mean post-release. PS5 users playing on disk will still need to download the day one patch, but the mode will be available at launch. This is good news since it means players can equip Eve’s unlocked costumes right away on their second playthrough instead of having to start collecting them all over again.
The patch also replaces the “Hard R” graffiti found in one area of the game. For those who missed it, earlier today, modder and Twitch streamer Lance McDonald shared a screenshot of Stellar Blade on Twitter. It showed a wall with the word “hard” graffiti next to a neon sign saying, “R Shop.”
“R Shop” refers to the character Roxanne, who works as an information broker in Stellar Blade. Meanwhile, the “Hard” graffiti is a recurring background asset, and both appear separately at multiple points in the game. However, the phrase “hard R” is also a way of alluding to a specific racial slur, especially in online discussions.
“The placement of two graphics near each other in Stellar Blade resulted in an unintentional objectionable phrase,” publisher PlayStation told IGN. “Shift Up had no intention of creating offensive artwork and will be replacing the graffiti for the Day 1 patch.”