Today, Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke developer Shift Up announced its financial results, alongside its strategy for the next few games.
We learn that development of the next Stellar Blade game is “progressing smoothly, on track to meet our targeted quality standards.”
The company has decided to move away from the publishing partnership with Sony and will instead self-publish the game. The reasoning is as follows:
“This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively. Building on the strong fandom and evergreen IP status established by the first Stellar Blade, we are formulating an optimal go-to-market strategy designed to maximize sales and reach a broad global audience from day one.”
They are confident that it’ll improve the already excellent results achieved by the first game thanks to “high-quality self-publishing capabilities, a sales maximization strategy, and a proven IP fanbase.”
News about it will be shared this year.
We also hear about Project Spirits, which is the studio’s next flagship IP, and we already know will be published by Level Infinite for PC, consoles, and mobile.
Its development is “progressing well, underpinned by efficient cost management and a well-structured development process.” News about this one is also to be expected within 2026.
We move on to the partnership with Unbound, the Tokyo-based AAA studio founded by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. The two studios are already “collaborating across multiple areas, including worldbuilding and creative planning, generating positive outcomes for both parties on the game development front.”
The studio, which counts approximately 60 developers, including many who are veterans of globally recognized IPs, is fully dedicated to creating new games and has “multiple projects currently in development spanning both high-end and mid-scale titles.”
These games will also be published directly by Shift Up.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke is also doing very well following a successful 3.5 anniversary update. It’s expected to sail smoothly through the year with high expectations building toward the 4th anniversary.
Moving on to actual financial results, operating revenue was 47,309 million Won, up 12% year-on-year. Revenue from Goddess of Victory: Nikke was 32,689, up 1.2% year-on-year, while revenue from Stellar Blade was 12,904 million Won, up 84.0% year-on-year.
Operating Profit was 21,506 Won, down 18.1% year-on-year.
Other gaming companies have already announced their financial results this quarter, including Koei Tecmo, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and Konami. You can expect more reports on this topic in the coming days and weeks.
