By Sagar V. Mankar Shift Up, the developer behind the popular game Stellar Blade, and its publisher Sony, are facing a lawsuit. The plaintiff? A Louisiana-based film production company that shares an almost identical name: Stellarblade.
According to IGN, Stellarblade LLC and its owner, Griffith Chambers Mehaffey, filed a complaint in a Louisiana court earlier this month. They’re claiming that Shift Up’s use of the name “Stellar Blade” for their video game is causing harm to their business.
Plaintiff claims that Stellarblade, the film production company, has been around since 2010 busy creating various forms of multimedia entertainment, from films and documentaries to commercials and music videos. Mehaffey, the owner, has owned the domain stellarblade.com since 2006 and has been using it for his work since 2011.
On the other side of this naming conflict, we have Shift Up’s game. Initially announced in 2019 as “Project Eve,” it wasn’t until 2022 that the game was rebranded as “Stellar Blade.” Shift Up registered the trademark for this new name in January 2023.
Mehaffey, seeing the potential for confusion, quickly moved to protect his brand. He registered his own trademark for Stellarblade in June 2023 and sent a cease and desist letter to Shift Up the following month.
The heart of Mehaffey’s complaint lies in its digital reach. He claims that before Shift Up’s game came along, people could easily find information about his business online. Now, when someone searches for “Stellarblade,” they’re flooded with results about the video game instead.
But the similarities don’t stop at the name. Mehaffey points out that both companies use similar color schemes in their logos and a stylized “S.” He argues that these visual similarities could further confuse potential customers.
In response to this situation, Mehaffey is asking the court for several things. He wants Shift Up and Sony to stop using the name “Stellar Blade” or anything similar. He’s also requesting that they hand over all materials bearing the “Stellar Blade” name so that he can destroy them. On top of that, he’s seeking compensation for damages and legal fees
Mehaffey’s lawyer has spoken out about the case, and highlighted how the larger companies’ resources have pushed Mehaffey’s business into “digital obscurity.”
Stellar Blade has been a major factor in the financial achievement of Shift Up this year. Released in April 2024 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, the game sold over 1 million copies within the first two months of its release, generating $19 million in revenue. In contrast to other Sony games like Concord and Astro Bot, which struggled/struggling to gain traction, Stellar Blade has carved out its unique niche in the crowded space.
In other legal news, Nintendo has filed lawsuits against Palworld for patent infringement.