Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim just spilled the beans on how Stellar Blade almost never happened. During development the Korean studio was down to enough cash to cover salaries for about three months while investors and publishers turned them away, calling the project too risky and unlikely to break even. Some even suggested the company would be valued higher if it ditched the game entirely.

Kim admitted he had his own doubts, wondering at times if making a console-style action game like this in Korea was the right move at all. The team kept grinding anyway until an early prototype impressed former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, landing them a publishing deal that kept the lights on. Sony and Tencent ultimately helped pull Shift Up back from the edge, with the latter later investing and taking a significant stake.

Stellar Blade went on to sell millions on PS5, hit a million copies in three days on PC, and now has a Switch 2 version in the works. Kim credits players for proving the bet paid off. Meanwhile Shift Up is riding high on gacha success with Nikke and employee bonuses that make Western studios look cheap. The sequel Stellar Blade: Blood Rain is already in development.