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- Shift Up recently launched Stellar Blade, which has received a positive reception.
- Due to its massive success, Shift Up has raised the second-largest IPO in South Korea this year.
- This is also the biggest IPO by a gaming studio in the country since 2021.
Shift Up, the developer behind Stellar Blade, has received praise from the entire industry. Even tech reviewers like Digital Foundry have praised the game for being polished. Stellar Blade also sold 1 million units in just two months as a PlayStation 5 exclusive.
This was beyond what the developer expected, so a PC Port is now being considered. Due to this successful launch, the team grew by around 50% on its first day of trade in South Korea.
It has also raised $320 million in IPO, making it the largest gaming company in the country in almost three years.
Why it matters: Korean game developers weren’t well known in the world before, but a couple of recent releases have made their presence known.
Bloomberg has revealed this information about Shift Up’s success. Raising $320 million in IPO on the first day of trade is quite surprising, especially for a developer who hasn’t worked on an AAA game before.
The shares were open to the public and traded as high as 89,500 won. Tencent, the company’s second-largest shareholder, sold around 7.3 million shares, 60,000 won each.
In 2021, Krafton INC. generated a sum of $3.8 billion in IPO, which is still the biggest sum in the market today. While Shift Up hasn’t managed to get close to what Krafton achieved, it generated the most a gaming studio has seen since 2021.
Following the IPO, there is still room for the stock to grow. With tremendous potential, the company is expected to grow even faster now.
According to Bloomberg’s graph, Shift Up’s IPO is the second largest in South Korea and will be used to enhance its gaming portfolio.
The company, founded in 2013, is mainly known for its mobile games. When Stellar Blade was announced, fans were concerned that it wouldn’t be nearly as good as the trailers showed.
However, Shift Up did a remarkable job with Stellar Blade and exceeded many people’s expectations. The studio hopes to continue this trend and deliver even more high-quality titles across various genres.
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[News Editor]
Obaid is pursuing a Law degree while working as a content writer. He has worked as a gaming writer for over three years because of his passion for the medium and reporting the latest updates in the industry. Having played hundreds of games, Obaid finds himself coming back to Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Red Dead Redemption 2, with these games being among his favorites. He has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as Wccftech, Metro UK, PS Lifestyle, GamePressure, VGC, and Gamespot.
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