Now one of Shift Up’s signature titles, Stellar Blade nearly didn’t make it. Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae recently recalled the development process, revealing the company had gotten so desperate it could only afford about three months of employee salaries, with the entire project facing a very real funding crisis.
Did Multiple Major Publishers Consider It Too Risky?
What made things even more awkward was that Shift Up wasn’t exactly without options. Kim Hyung-tae revealed that the team had approached several investors and major publishers, but they universally considered Stellar Blade too risky. Some even said they’d be more interested if Shift Up made a different type of game instead. In the end, every major publisher turned down the project.
Enter Sony: How Stellar Blade Survived
Things took a turn. Shuhei Yoshida, former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios and head of PlayStation’s independent games initiative, got his hands on a playable build and eventually offered Shift Up a publishing deal. The project that everyone deemed too risky suddenly got a second chance at life.
From No One Willing to Invest to Shift Up’s Flagship!
Stellar Blade finally launched in 2024 and later came to PC. Now the sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, is in development, with a Switch 2 version also in the works. Even more interestingly, Shift Up can now plan their own publishing strategy for future titles. Looking back at those days when they barely had three months of payroll left, it’s wild that this project survived at all.