Stellar Blade Dev Already Staffing Up for Next Game

03.04.2024 - 12:23 / gamerant.com / Dominik Bo

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up is already staffing up for its next project. This information has arrived via some newly emerged job listings, which also suggest that Shift Up's new game will share some similarities with Stellar Blade itself.

Founded in 2013, Shift Up is a South Korean studio that originally specialized in mobile titles. It found early success with Destiny Child, a gacha RPG which was launched for Android and iOS devices in 2016. That release warranted a spin-off in the form Destiny Child: Defense War, a 2020 mobile title that also featured gacha mechanics, but delivered an SRPG-like gameplay loop with grid-based combat. The company's upcoming game is a fairly big departure from its mobile roots, not just because of its PS5 exclusivity, but also due to the fact that Stellar Blade is a mature-rated ARPG.

Be that as it may, the game itself won't be a one-off, according to some newly publicized job ads from Shift Up. The listings, first spotted by GamingBolt, reveal that the Seoul-based company is presently in the process of preparing for its second-ever big-budget project. Much like Stellar Blade, the mysterious title is envisioned as an action RPG taking place in an «urban sci-fi» setting with some monster-like creatures, according to a machine translation of one of the job openings.

Another similarity to Stellar Blade concerns the project's engine of choice, as the upcoming game is also planned to be made in Epic's Unreal Engine. Stellar Blade itself uses Unreal Engine 4, but it is plausible that Shift Up's next game will utilize the newer version of the popular engine, which was released in April 2022. Given how several job listings describe the unannounced title as a «AAA» project, the game itself will presumably be targeting consoles, PC, or both. That is also implied by the fact that several job openings ask for candidates who are well-versed in both PC and console development.

Although Stellar Blade itself is a PS5 exclusive, it wasn't always planned as such. Shift Up only partnered with Sony in 2021, after former SIE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida played the Stellar Blade prototype and pushed for the Japanese gaming giant to publish the game.

Shift Up's next title will presumably be handled by Second EVE Studio, the company's subsidiary that was established with the explicit purpose of making big-budget console games, starting with Stellar Blade. Speaking of which, the much-marketed RPG is finally scheduled to hit physical and digital store shelves on April 26. In the meantime, PS5 owners can already download the Stellar Blade demo, which reached the PlayStation Store on March 29 and has been fairly well-received by the fandom.

Stellar Blade is an action-RPG