It'll be interesting to see how involved Sony is with Stellar Blade's inevitable sequel, because it looks like the Korean developer is in the process of setting up its own publishing arm.
Sony and PlayStation obviously played a major role in selling Stellar Blade; there's no doubt the action title greatly benefited from a marketing push that's usually saved for first-party games. Indeed, Sony published the game on PS5 and PC.
But again, Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade and mobile hit Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, is reportedly "strengthening" its ability to self-publish its projects, both on a global and multiplatform scale.
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This is according to Korean outlet GameMeca (as translated by Automaton), with a fresh job listing for the developer promising "a new leap forward in the global market".
It continues: "We aim to expand our self-publishing capabilities to support internally developed titles across consoles and PC."
When Shift Up became a publicly traded company back in 2024, CEO Tae-hyung Kim suggested that it would continue to prioritise game development, with the potential for self-publishing a consideration for the future.
Well, we suppose that future is now, since the studio's clearly making moves.
How do you think Stellar Blade 2 will be handled? Would you rather see Sony publish the sequel, or is this a step in the right direction for Shift Up? Break your opponent's guard in the comments section below.