Cliff Notes – Stellar Blade creator is one of the richest people in Korea as £1,800 statue sells out
- Shift Up’s founder, Kim Hyung-tae, became a billionaire after the company’s public offering, despite a recent decline in share value.
- The mobile game Goddess Of Victory: Nikke significantly contributes to Shift Up’s revenue, accounting for nearly 70% of total earnings.
- A £1,800 statue of Stellar Blade’s protagonist EVE sold out quickly, highlighting the studio’s strong merchandise appeal.
Stellar Blade creator is one of the richest people in Korea
The statue sold out within hours. The director behind Stellar Blade has become one of the wealthiest people in Korea, but it’s not for the reason you might think.
Stellar Blade is one of last year’s best action games and for South Korean studio Shift Up, it was their breakthrough moment in the West.
The action game sold over one million copies, following its launch on PlayStation 5 in April, and a PC version is set to be released in June 2025.
Shift Up chairman and founder, Kim Hyung-tae, has subsequently become one of the richest people in Korea, but it isn’t because of Stellar Blade.
As reported by Forbes, Kim Hyung-tae’s net worth is $725 million (£546 million) as of April 14, 2025, which puts him at number 46 on Korea’s rich list.
The founder’s net worth ballooned in July last year, when Shift Up became a public company and received an initial offering of $320 million (£241 million). This made Kim Hyung-tae a billionaire, as the largest shareholder of the $3 billion company.
Since then, Shift Up’s shares have fallen more than a third and Kim’s overall net worth has shrunk to $725 million, but it’s still enough to make his debut on the rich list.
You’d have to be pretty rich to afford these
Shift Up’s biggest success is mobile title Goddess Of Victory: Nikke, which was released on Android and iOS in 2022 and PC a year later. According to the studio’s financial report for 2024, the free-to-play game accounted for 69.6% of the studio’s total revenue, generating $105.4 million.
This number was actually down 7% over the previous year, but the studio is planning to launch Goddess Of Victory: Nikke in China in 2025, so that will likely give it a major shot in the arm. In comparison, royalties from Stellar Blade amounted to $43.2 million in 2024.
Shift Up has showcased its wealth through a new $2,400 (£1,800) statue of Stellar Blade protagonist EVE. Created by JND Studios, the statue weighs 8.4kg and has already sold out after pre-orders went live on April 18.
Along with EVE, there are separate statues of the equally improbably proportioned Tachy and Adam’s drone. The bundle with all three statues costs a whopping $3,899 (£2,935).
Is there going to be a Stellar Blade 2?
Stellar Blade is set to launch on PC in June 2025, alongside a DLC crossover with Goddess Of Victory: Nikke. This comes after Stellar Blade’s first major DLC, a collaboration with NieR: Automata, which launched last year.
Shift Up has already announced plans for a sequel but nothing has been officially revealed, so it will likely be a few years away yet. That may well mean it ends up being a PlayStation 6 title.
A sequel is coming confirmed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
