Shift Up is not slowing down after Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. In its latest Q1 earnings report, the South Korean studio shared a clearer look at what comes next — and bro, the big theme is control.
The first Stellar Blade was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which helped push the game hard on PlayStation 5. For the sequel, though, Shift Up plans to handle publishing itself. That means the studio wants more direct control over how the IP is marketed, positioned, and sold globally.
For Malaysian and SEA players, this is the part worth watching. Self-publishing could mean Shift Up has more room to decide platform strategy, regional campaigns, launch timing, and potentially how quickly the sequel reaches non-PlayStation audiences. The report mentions a plan to reach a broad global audience from day one, which definitely sounds like Shift Up is thinking bigger than a narrow single-platform push.
Nothing has been confirmed yet on platforms, pricing, or release window, so don’t start pre-ordering in your head. But if you skipped the first Stellar Blade because you were waiting for PC or because PS5 pricing in Malaysia is no joke, this direction is interesting.
Shift Up also said development on the Stellar Blade sequel is moving smoothly and remains aligned with the studio’s quality expectations. Basically: no major drama has been flagged publicly.
The company is also preparing to self-publish titles from Unbound, the studio led by Shinji Mikami. Mikami is a huge name in Japanese games, best known for helping shape survival horror and action design across decades. Unbound is working closely with Shift Up on multiple games, with releases expected to roll out one after another rather than all at once. More details will be shared later.
That partnership is a spicy one. Shift Up already has a strong anime-styled action and gacha identity through Stellar Blade and NIKKE, while Mikami brings old-school game design credibility. If the collaboration lands properly, it could give Shift Up a much broader catalogue beyond waifu-driven sci-fi and mobile-first live service.
To support this bigger publishing push, Shift Up says it is hiring more people with experience launching and operating major global games. The studio also claims the opportunity to publish the next Stellar Blade and Unbound’s first titles has helped strengthen its internal publishing capabilities quickly.
Then there is Project Spirits, Shift Up’s mysterious new flagship IP. Details are still thin, but the game is described as Eastern fantasy-inspired and aimed at niche otaku audiences. It is being directed by Daehoon Han, who has credits on Metallic Child and Smashing The Battle.
Shift Up says Project Spirits is progressing well and plans to reveal more information within 2026. For now, its planned PC and mobile release in 2027 remains unchanged. The game will be co-published with Level Infinite, the global publisher behind NIKKE.
That PC-plus-mobile plan is especially relevant for SEA. Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines are all strong mobile gaming markets, but PC fandom is still very real for anime-style RPGs and action games. If Project Spirits is built properly across both platforms, it could land right in the sweet spot for SEA players who jump between phone grinding and PC sessions.
For now, Shift Up’s roadmap is clear: keep supporting NIKKE and Stellar Blade, take more control over publishing, build out Unbound’s pipeline, and slowly reveal Project Spirits. Not bad for a studio that many players only started paying close attention to after Stellar Blade.
Source: Automaton Media