Stellar Blade is a success now but once came close to the brink: "We could only pay salaries for about three months"
Shift UP CEO Hyung-Tae Kim has spoken about the troubles faced during Stellar Blade 's development, including doubts from investors about the game's ability to break even, and rapidly depleting funds to pay staff with. Read more
Shift UP CEO Hyung-Tae Kim revealed the financial struggles the company faced while developing Stellar Blade. During the development process, Kim said that there were periods where the company could only afford to pay salaries for about three months. Despite the doubts from investors who deemed the game too risky and questioned its profitability, Shift Up persevered in bringing Stellar Blade to life.
Kim himself had moments of doubt, wondering if it was correct to create a game like this in Korea. However, the company managed to see Stellar Blade through to its completion, and it turned out to be a massive success. Stellar Blade sold millions of copies on PS5 and broke records on PC, selling over 1 million copies within just three days.
The positive reception of Stellar Blade has allowed Kim and Shift Up to move forward with the development of the sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The company's success in South Korea's growing AAA development scene is further highlighted by the recent success of another Korean developer, Pearl Abyss, with their record-breaking release Crimson Desert.
Written by urgent.news from Eurogamer's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
