Shift Up CEO Says Stellar Blade Was Almost Shelved Because the Studio Ran Out of Money

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They Eventually Struck A Deal With PlayStation to Publish The Title!

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  • Stellar Blade studio head says the studio ran out of money during the game’s development. 
  • They only had money to pay devs for 3 months, which would have led to the game’s cancellation. 
  • They managed to strike a deal with Sony, and the game ended up being a massive success. 

Stellar Blades is one of the biggest success stories in recent years, and a title that would go on to inspire multiple Korean developers due to its impact. However, the game nearly didn’t exist because of some financial issues with the studio. 

Shift Up CEO says that Stellar Blade was almost shelved since the studio ran out of money and only had enough to pay developers for 3 months. Eventually, they pitched the title to different publishers, and Sony picked it up. 

Why it matters: Project Eve, which it was codenamed back then, was a risky project, so many publishers backed out of it. Sony took a gamble, and it ultimately became one of the most successful PS games that year.

Stellar Blade
Stellar Blade nearly never made it out of the studio because of financial issues

In an interview with INVEN, CEO Hyung-Tae Kim recalled the early days of Stellar Blade’s development. He said they reached out to many publishers; some rejected the pitch, while others advised them to pursue a different project. 

Then they showed an early prototype of the game to Shuhi Yoshida, who was the head of PlayStation at that time, and he loved the idea and ended up agreeing to publish what would turn out to be a massive success. 

Stellar Blade
Yoshida loved the idea and agreed to publish Shift Up’s title 

Years later, Shift Up is thriving and even self-publishing the sequel to Stellar Blade. They have successfully turned the title into a franchise, and in doing so inspired a bunch of Korean developers to pursue big projects. 

What are your thoughts on Stellar Blade almost being canceled because the studio ran out of money? Let us know your opinions in the comments or join the discussion at the official Tech4Gamers Forum. 

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