Stellar Blade studio Shift Up, which has focused primarily on development since becoming a publicly traded company in 2024, is taking steps towards strengthening its capabilities as a global, multiplatform publisher, according to South Korean outlet GameMeca.
The company has recently opened recruitment for several positions related to localization, marketing and PR, with the job listings stating “Shift Up is preparing for a new leap forward in the global market, beyond the worldwide success of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE and Stellar Blade. We aim to expand our self-publishing capabilities to support internally developed titles across consoles and PC.” A Shift Up representative told Game Meca that this move is meant to boost Shift Up’s means of supporting in-house titles for the long-term, in line with the studio’s recent global growth.
While Shift Up has previously self-published titles like Destiny Child (which ended services in September 2023), CEO Tae-hyung Kim suggested that the company would remain primarily focused on development after its listing, with self-publishing remaining a potential option for the long term. However, it seems the company is now taking definitive steps towards publishing its own games.
While Shift Up’s upcoming Project Spirits (previously Project Witches) will be published globally by Tencent label Level Infinite (as confirmed in November last year), it’s possible the company plans to self-publish some of its other future releases. Shift Up is currently developing a sequel to Stellar Blade, for which a publisher has not yet been announced.
Stellar Blade director says sequel will address the game’s lacking narrative
Yeah, no shit.
After they got their cheeks spread out by Sony, and the forced PC delay?
Who wouldn’t want to jump ship (Sony’s ship, to be exact) and hop on board elsewhere? Even if it’s a sailboat.
At least they’ll get to keep their booty, and their butts. But with Sony? Leeches ain’t even the proper word for it.
They should’ve went solo from the start, but I’m guessing Sony handed them a fat check and their eyes got glued on the money and not the game’s legacy or the fans who were patiently waiting for its release.
But, it seems like they learned their lesson.
Developing games at their scale is expensive, which leads to devs taking deals with predatory companies to get started. I don’t blame them for making deals with Sony and Level Infinite, since otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford to make games at all.
I’m happy they’ve been successful enough to start making plans to break free from publishers, most in their shoes get roped into handing over a lot of money, up to 90% of their revenue, forcing them to rely on publishers forever to stay afloat.