Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment on PlayStation 5, Stellar Blade As a reminder, it was a great success on console with 1 million copies sold during its first two months. Like most games released by Sony these days, Stellar Blade was promised sooner or later a release on PC, especially since the PlayStation teams helped Shift Up a lot in the development of its first AAA game on console, the manufacturer does not have the license. We now know that PC players will be able to tickle the Naytibas with Eve sometime next year.
To please its shareholders, Shift Up even recalled that it had high hopes for this PC release, believing that it will generate more sales than the PS5 version. The studio is relying on the increasingly important gateway that Steam represents in Asian countries, such as China and South Korea, citing the recent example of Black Myth: Wukong. The latter sold very well on PS5, to the point of being cited by CEO Hiroki Totoki during Sony’s financial results, but reached stratospheric heights on PC thanks to the gigantic Chinese player base using the platform.
Meanwhile, Shift Up recorded a turnover of 38.8 million euros (an annual increase of 52%) and an operating profit of 23.7 million euros (an annual increase of 120%) for the July-September quarter. Royalties from Stellar Blade reached 15 million euros in the third quarter, down 13% compared to 17.2 million euros in the April-June quarter. Despite this expected decline, Stellar Blade continues to sell consistently », According to Shift Up, which will release the first additional paid content on November 20 in partnership with NieR Automata.
The studio’s main mobile game, Goddess of Victory : Nikke generated 22.9 million euros, down 11% compared to the same quarter of last year. Shift Up cited the performance ” somewhat disappointing » of the collaboration with Evangelion as one of the reasons for this drop in revenue, but a rebound is expected at the end of the year thanks to the special second anniversary event. And as we always come back to China, Goddess of Victory : Nikke recently obtained a license which should allow it to debut in the Middle Kingdom in the first half of 2025.
Remember that in addition to the development of the franchise Stellar BladeShift Up’s next big project is a multiplatform RPG (consoles, mobile, PC) codenamed Project Witches. The studio plans to release it no earlier than 2027 and share the first details about the game in the first half of next year. To do this, you obviously have to gain weight. As of September 30, Shift Up employed 313 people, but aims to exceed the 500 employee mark by 2027.
- Also read | Stellar Blade: expansions, a PC port and a sequel already in the plans
