Stellar Blade and Lies of P Inspired Korean Developers to Tackle Console Games, Says Shift Up Technical Director

Speaking with GamesRadar+ at Gamescom 2026, Shift Up technical director Dong-ki Lee discussed the broader industry impact of Stellar Blade following the reveal of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. According to Lee, titles such as Stellar Blade and Lies of P have served as major catalysts within South Korea, encouraging local developers to take up the challenge of creating dedicated console games.

Lee compared the phenomenon to how games like Black Myth: Wukong and Genshin Impact shifted paradigms in China, helping push core PC and console development forward in regions historically dominated by online and mobile titles. Alongside Crimson Desert, these interconnected projects are exerting a mutual influence across the Korean development landscape. Both Stellar Blade and Lies of P achieved strong commercial milestones—selling millions of copies—and are slated for sequels, while inspiring Shift Up to pursue larger ventures such as the AAA-class project Project Spirits.

Looking ahead, Shift Up is also expanding its platform footprint. Lee highlighted the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 port of Stellar Blade, noting that the studio wanted to showcase the technical skills and know-how gained from developing for PlayStation 5 and PC. The Switch 2 version of Stellar Blade is scheduled to be publicly playable for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2026. Despite hardware challenges, Lee emphasized that the team prioritizes making Blood Rain and other titles playable for as wide an audience as possible.