Sony reportedly moves closer to Stellar Blade, Nikke developer Shift Up
It looks like Sony and South Korean game developer Shift Up are deepening their ties, entering a distribution agreement for the studio’s upcoming PS5 title Stellar Blade, according to Korean site Game Chosun.
“The deal officially marks Shift Up as the first Sony second-party partner in Korea,” the report says.
Stellar Blade is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, which initially was known as Project Eve and was supposed to be released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Two years after its reveal, it appeared at a PlayStation Showcase, where it was announced as a PS5 exclusive. In a 2022 State of Play show it finally received its current name, Stellar Blade, and a release window of 2023 was given – that last part did obviously not come to fruition and there is seemingly no new information to be had on that front at the moment.
Stellar Blade features a combo-based combat system that includes countering, parrying, and dodging. These actions fill up a meter that allows players to unleash powerful skills.
Exploration is the other big aspect of the game, which has players return to an alien-occupied Earth, where they find the last city populated by surviving humans.
This will be Shift Up’s third title after the two successful mobile gacha game launches in the form of Destiny Child and Goddess of Victory: Nikke. While the studio’s debut title found most of its success in Korea, Nikke is a fairly well-known title among mobile game fans. It has garnered a reputation for – sometimes quite risqué – fan service among its community when it comes to its character designs.
