Goddess of Victory: Nikke developer Shift Up has become the first Korean studio to sign up with Sony for a second-party publishing deal.
The developer's upcoming game Stellar Blade will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive, but according to an article on Korean news platform gamechosun (for which we're using machine translation), it'll also officially be published by Sony.
This will make Shift Up the first Korean studio to sign up for such a deal, according to the gamechosun article.
It's worth noting that this doesn't mean Shift Up has become a Sony studio; Sony hasn't acquired the developer in the same way they have for studios like Housemarque or Nixxes.
Instead, the studio has seemingly simply signed a publishing deal with Sony for Stellar Blade, with future projects not necessarily being published by Sony in the same way.
If you're not familiar with Shift Up, you might know what is arguably its most famous export, sci-fi action RPG Goddess of Victory: Nikke, which recently celebrated its first anniversary.
Stellar Blade was originally announced all the way back in 2019, at which point it was known simply as Project Eve.
The game was subsequently shown once again during a PlayStation showcase in 2021, although no release date or release window were announced then.
It was then officially unveiled as Stellar Blade during a 2022 State of Play presentation and given a 2023 release window, although given that we're closing in on the end of the year, that window now seems a touch unrealistic.
When the game does eventually arrive, it'll combine fast-paced combat with exploration and will pit Eve against a variety of horrific-looking enemies and bosses.
You'll also get the chance to scale walls, swing on ropes, and "slid[e] tactically" to explore the world around you and unlock new items.
Stellar Blade is due to arrive on PlayStation 5 sometime in the future. We'll bring you more on this game as soon as we get it.
