Naughty Dog character concept designer Hyoung Taek Nam received some criticism for fan art they created for Stellar Blade‘s lead protagonist, Eve. The rendition was reposted by the game’s X (formerly Twitter) account, where fans suggested the artist’s take was “ugly” and “revolting”. Stellar Blade developer Shift Up recently posted more of Nam’s art in response to that criticism.
Stellar Blade dev “always welcome” fan art
In the original post showcasing the first piece from Nam, the criticism doesn’t seem to stem from the actual quality of the art. It really is a bunch of trolls that just don’t like their interpretation of Eve. Here is the fan art which depicts Eve fighting a Naytiba:
Nam’s Naughty Dog connection seems to fuel those fires a bit more. As the PlayStation studio typically takes a more realistic approach to their art, a specific group of trolls conflate realism with being woke. So, unfortunately, it is no surprise this particular interpretation of Eve, would receive this kind of criticism.
A couple days after the original post, the Stellar Blade account posted a second piece of fan art by Nam. This time, it was a portrait of Eve with softer features than the previous post. Attached was also a response to the criticism from Nam’s previous piece welcoming the art and explaining the importance of style in art.
“Artist Nam Hyoung Taek has once again drawn Eve for us,” Shift Up responds. “We’re very grateful for this, but we always welcome fan art in the style of the previous one.”
“It’s not uncommon for fan art to have more of the artist’s style than the original, and we think that’s a very important and enjoyable point,” Shift Up adds.
Stellar Blade launched back in April exclusively for PS5. It has received numerous updates since release, including PS5 Pro enhancements and Nier: Automata crossover DLC.
