Rising developer Shift Up had an outstanding 2024, powered by the success of PS5 console exclusive Stellar Blade.
In its first financial results since going public, the outfit announced it achieved record revenue in Fiscal Year 24, registering ₩219.8 billion (~$151 million). That’s an increase of over 30% year-over-year.
Gacha game NIKKE: Goddess of Victory actually slumped around 7% year-over-year, with the studio noting that “competition has become very fierce, and as a result, some major games have seen a decline in user interest”.
But Stellar Blade earned the company a very robust ₩62.8 billion (~$43.2 million) in royalties, and continues to sell extremely well on the back of continued updates and expansions. The studio reiterated its plans to release the hit character action game on PC in the future.
On the back of its success, the company revealed its intent to increase its workforce from around 322 employees to over 400 full-time staff by the end of the year. In addition to continued development of NIKKE and Stellar Blade, it’s also working on a fresh titled named Project Witches, which is scheduled to release in 2027.
Shift Up will likely use its previously announced Stellar Blade X NIKKE collaboration to build fresh interest around both brands, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the planned gacha event debut alongside the aforementioned PC port of the game.
All in all, the future looks extremely bright for the Korean studio, and we’re excited to see what it has in store for the rest of 2025 and beyond.
[source shiftup.co.kr, via gameworldobserver.com]
Comments 32
Always great to see new Developers find their footing and thrive in this ever unpredictable industry.
Here’s to more success for the team, Stellar Blade was a really solid foundation, a sequel that improves upon it’s narrative issues could be insanely good.
Give gamers what they want, games like Stellar Blade and Nikke, have modest budgets, and as a result, make profits and not have to lay off employees. (whilst giving them a bonus of a free PS5).
Companies could learn from ShiftUp
I saw on twitter that apprently the PC version will have exclusive content, if that's true, it would really annoy me, don't get me wrong I want more the game to do really well on PC, but still.
Great to see some positive gaming news stories and job creation in the industry.
Game execs take note: You don't spend to $200m on a game. You just need to deliver a solid, single player experience for a reasonable budget and profit will follow, even if sales aren't astronomical.
Stellar Blade was my personal GotY, love it and the road to Platinum was less grindy than expected. Looking forward their next game, either a sequel or another game in the same style.
"But Stellar Blade earned the company a very robust ₩62.8 billion (~$43.2 million) in royalties, and continues to sell extremely well on the back of continued updates and expansions"
Enough proof for single player games, a good one btw, can generate good revenue even it's exclusive to one platform.
@Oram77 Do you have a link for that? I personally would be surprised if they did that.
@AndyKazama
There's plenty of games with modest budgets that did terribly. Even games by big developers recently(Kunitsi Gami, Prince of Persia Metroidvania).
This comment is the equivalent of me pointing to GTA6 and going "look guys it's easy, make a $1b game and people will be queuing up to give you their cash".
@ChrisDeku Yeah, unfortunately it's true. Stuff like Banishers, high reviews, great word of mouth, modest budget, but a total flop. It's not as easy as just making a great single player game anymore.
Honestly, for as much as people say they want exclusives to go away, I think Sony's marketing and console exclusivity helped push Stellar Blade in front of more people than it would have reached on its own.
Layoffs are only really a western devs problem.
@PuppetMaster one game selling relatively well isn't exactly "proof". But yes, several single player games have sold well enough for companies to keep making them. As someone who only plays single player games, I've very happy to see them succeed.
Also, any one else curious as to why they didn't mention how many copies it's sold so far? I think the only figure they released was crossing 1m sold a few months after its release.
@ChrisDeku well said.
Stellar blade is the real goty 2024
Games industry is far from dying. Stellar Blade, KCD2, BG3…. Plenty of people able to make decent money producing games that are every bit as AAA as the 300m dollar flops.
Layoffs usually happen after hiring...
I really hope they have sustainable plans and don't have to lay people if a future game does not perform as well as NIKKE or Stellar Blade. Why does every company always need to grow and cannot simply be satisfied with their success /revenue?
@mazzel I assume it's about having more people so they can do more things.
@naruball Sorry if my comment isn't clear. What i mean is with the recent narratives from EA CEO that single player games didn't bring money compare to live service games. The success of Stellar Blade is another proof that break EA CEO statement. There's no need for publishers to turn everything into live service games.
I'm also aware of other single player games who sold well and flops.
And we probably will get the update figures in Sony next financial report along with Helldivers 2, Astro Bot, etc.
Loved stellar blade, glad it seems to keep selling well too as well deserved!
@PuppetMaster oh, yeah. Absolutely. But I think EA is only interested in games that sell incredibly well as opposed to games that move a few million copies. Which means they'll probably focus on sports games.
Sounds well-deserved from all I've heard. Well, from you guys mostly.
I have no doubt it will sell a lot on Steam too. It will be the Eve of a new era.
@Oram77 @get2sammyb
Shift Up says steps taken to ensure the PC version’s success include “optimisation, enhancing user convenience, adding supplementary content, and tailored marketing strategies unique to Shift Up”.
"Adding supplementary content..."
What could that be?
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/stellar-blades-developer-expects-the-pc-version-to-sell-better-than-the-ps5-one/
If I were running a studio I'd be careful about expanding it too much. Sometimes a smaller, but efficient, team that works on 'AA' or 'B' games is the way to go. Less $ to make, less risk. Stellar Blade is one of those that's proof you don't need to make an 'AAA' game to have success.
@Futureshark
"It also plans to make sure the game runs smoothly in ultra-mobile PC environments, such as the Steam Deck or the Asus ROG Ally."
Always encouraging. Should be even for people who don't own one, since it means they're putting the work in to make sure it runs great across a range of hardware.
That + a launch discount would really propel sales of the PC version at launch.
@Futureshark Thinking more on it, could be just more PC options/setting but then again why would they call it "content"
So much for the "Exclusives don't sell anymore!" cope. Can't wait to play this on the Pro.
They should really thank gooners 😅🤣
They deserve all of their success for making a cool mash-up of character action games and souls-likes and ending up with a viable product that doesn't feel like a million miles of jank.
Can't wait to see what else they can do.
@Drago201
Hur hur
Sure, it's only good quality is a sexy protagonist.
@symmetrian nah it had good combat style and a decent story killer soundtrack but that game was definitely promoted with bringing sexyback in mind
@Gamer83 exactly my thinking. There is only so many AAA Games that can perform financially like a AAA Gane needs to perform. We saw enough cases the recent years to know what happens if the titles do not perform as they need.
Well done. Well deserved. Do we now get a Milestone outfit on the next update?
@mazzel
Yeah, especially these days with cost to make games just constantly go up and up. Something success in a smaller market is better than taking a shot at the big one and failing.
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