Stellar Blade is one of the most successful games in recent years, and its impact has inspired numerous Korean game developers. However, due to the studio's financial issues, the game nearly failed to see the light of day.
The CEO of Shift Up stated that Stellar Blade was nearly shelved because the studio ran out of funds, with only enough money left to pay developers for three months. In the end, they pitched the game to various publishers, and Sony eventually took on the project.
In an interview with INVEN, CEO Kim Hyung-tae recalled the early development process of Stellar Blade. He stated that they had approached many publishers. Some rejected their proposal, while others suggested they work on different projects.
They then presented an early prototype of the game to Shuhei Yoshida, then-head of PlayStation, who loved the concept and ultimately agreed to publish what would become a highly successful title.
Years later, Shift Up experienced rapid growth and even self-published the sequel to Stellar Blade. They successfully turned the game into a franchise and inspired a wave of Korean developers to pursue larger-scale projects.