Summary
- Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade, raised a record-breaking $320 million on South Korea's stock market prior to its first day of trading.
- This marks South Korea’s largest initial public offering (IPO) for a video game company in three years.
- Shift Up plans to use these funds to diversify its gaming portfolio.
Stellar Blade developer Shift Up has recently been listed on South Korea's stock market after raising the highest capital for a gaming company in the country in nearly three years. The game development studio was founded by Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim in 2013.
The launch of the PS5-exclusive game Stellar Blade earlier this year put Shift Up on the map. Receiving countless positive reviews from critics and players alike, Stellar Blade also sold incredibly well despite only being available on the PS5. The hard-hitting action-adventure title is set in a post-apocalyptic setting and follows the protagonist, Eve, as she attempts to reclaim the planet from a clan of deadly creatures.
A Stellar Blade Story DLC Would Be a Great Chance to Atone for One Sin of the Base Game
Despite all it has going for it, Stellar Blade could still make up for one of the base game's shortcomings with a significant DLC expansion.
As per Bloomberg, Shift Up raised 435 billion won, or $320 million, after going public on Korea Exchange. This is the most money a South Korean firm in the gaming sector has raised since PUBG publisher Krafton raised $3.8 billion in August 2021. Overall, it is also the second-largest offering in South Korea this year, following that of HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co., which was worth $553 million.
Stellar Blade Studio Goes Public On Korea Exchange
As part of the IPO, Shift Up sold almost 7.3 million shares, with each share valued at 60,000 won, or approximately $44. According to the report, a recent filing showed that the demand from investors far exceeded the number of available shares by 226 times. Moreover, the source states that funds from the IPO would be used by the company to "diversify its gaming portfolios."
Since Stellar Blade was released, its devs have been continuously supplying updates to add additional content to the game, as well as working hard to resolve certain in-game issues. Last month, Shift Up revealed a roadmap for Stellar Blade's future, teasing a number of interesting updates coming to the game.
Players can expect new features, including a Photo Mode, additional skins, and more, to arrive in the coming months. While Stellar Blade has performed incredibly well on PS5, Shift Up is eyeing the release of a Stellar Blade PC port to further increase revenue from the game. Based on Sony's recent strategy, it wouldn't be far-fetched to expect the PS5-exclusive title to eventually get a PC launch a few years down the line.
Stellar Blade
- Released
- April 26, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
RECLAIM EARTH FOR HUMANKIND The future of humanity hangs in the balance in Stellar Blade, an all-new story-driven action adventure. Ravaged by strange, powerful creatures, Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of the decimated human race has fled to a Colony in outer space. After travelling from the Colony, 7th Airborne Squad member EVE arrives on the desolate remains of our planet with a clear-cut mission: to save humankind by reclaiming Earth from the Naytiba – the malevolent force that has devastated it. But as EVE tackles the Naytiba one-by-one, piecing together the mysteries of the past in the ruins of human civilization, she realizes that her mission is far from straightforward. In fact, almost nothing is as it seems…
- Developer(s)
- Shift Up
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
