Shift Up and PlatinumGames have spoken more about the process in which Bayonetta costumes made it into Stellar Blade. This comes as part of an interview published by Famitsu.
One of the more interesting tidbits shared is that PlatinumGames was relatively hands-off. According to the studio’s CEO Atsushi Inaba, if the company was “nitpicky”, it “would ruin the collaboration.”
Meanwhile, Shift Up’s Kim Hyung Tae called the process a “fun learning experience.” That said, he had to keep his “desires in check while making it so that I wouldn’t go berserk.”
I want to ask if there were any difficulties when creating the collaboration outfit, or how you were supervised.
Kim: When we received feedback, we could sense that while they were treating the character Bayonetta with care, they wanted to see her take shape in Stellar Blade, which left an impression on me. The approval process went by quickly, which was a great help.
The words that embellish Bayonetta’s outfit each have meaning, and it was a struggle to recreate them, but it was also a fun learning experience. We think we are the first to include the nun costume in a collaboration, but since it was a very memorable part of the original game, we were very glad that it was approved.
Inaba: We felt that we could only collaborate with people who we could entrust everything to, and we felt that Shift Up and Kim were very respectful, so we could leave it to them with peace of mind.
Being nitpicky would ruin the collaboration, so our stance is just “please do a good job”, so we felt really lucky that something beyond our expectations was prepared.
Kim: I’m very happy to hear you say that. This was the fruit of the efforts of Inaba-san and the staff of both companies, so we would be grateful if everyone could play as Eve while wearing Bayonetta’s outfit.
Among the collaboration outfits, one of them wasn’t in the original game and was prepared by Kim-san instead. How were these made?
Kim: I kept my desires in check while making it so that I wouldn’t go berserk and make people think, “Is Kim Hyung Tae insane?” (laughs). While keeping my style intact, establishing it as clothing for Eve and creating something that would make sense in the world of Bayonetta were important points I kept in mind.
I moved forward with my work gingerly, while also thinking that this could be a starting point. I thought it would be nice if I could show everyone new things again in the future. I’d like to thank PlatinumGames again for granting their approval.
Inaba: My thoughts on the new outfit can be summed up in one word: “amazing”. As said earlier, we thought there wouldn’t be much point if only things that were from the original game were added.
As more entries are made, animators and designers change, and their various interpretations and something like their “personal flair” are included, right? We think collaborations should have things like that.
Kim-san’s outfit is both Bayonetta and Stellar Blade, striking a perfect balance between the two, which is something not everyone can do. I was nervous at first, but after taking one look at it, I thought, “I’m glad we collaborated!”
Kim: This time, I kept my wicked side under control, and designed the outfit with a careful approach, but if I get the chance I’d like to show a version that has everything I’ve got put into it.
Stellar Blade launches for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, and for more on the game, check out our developer interview with Shift Up here.
Translation provided by SatsumaFS and Simon Griffin on behalf of Nintendo Everything.