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They also reiterate that they expect Stellar Blade to sell more on PC than console.

Shift Up reports record revenue and operating profit in 2024, with Stellar Blade bringing in $43M in royalties | Game World Observer

Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke developer Shift Up has summed up its financial results for 2024. Here’re the key takeaways from the company’s first report after going public.

gameworldobserver.com

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Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke developer Shift Up has summed up its financial results for 2024. Here’re the key takeaways from the company’s first report after going public.

• According to its FY24 report (in Korean), Shift Up reached ₩219.8 billion ($151.4 million) in revenue last year, up 30.4% from 2023.
• Operating profit was ₩148.58 billion ($102.3 million), up 33.8% year-over-year, while net profit grew 33.7% to ₩142.6 billion ($98.2 million).
• 2024 became a record year for Shift Up in terms of revenue and operating income.
• Goddess of Victory: Nikke generated ₩153 billion ($105.4 million) for Shift Up in 2024, down 7% year-over-year. It accounted for 69.6% of the studio’s total revenue.
• Shift Up noted that “competition has become very fierce, and as a result, some major games have seen a decline in user interest,” but Goddess of Victory: Nike managed to retain its player base thanks to various events and collaborations.
• In 2025, the company also plans to officially launch the game in China, saying that pre-registrations have been in line with expectations.
• Royalties from Stellar Blade amounted to ₩62.8 billion ($43.2 million). The game continues to sell well thanks to constant updates and collaborations (e.g. the Nier: Automata DLC).
• Shift Up expects the performance of the upcoming PC version of Stellar Blade to be “better than that of the console version, especially in the Asian game market.” It is now also working on optimizing the game to ensure “smooth” player experience even on the Steam Deck.
• The studio will also share new information about its upcoming game, Project Witches, in the first half of 2025. It is expected to launch after 2027.
• As of December 31, Shift Up employed 322 people, of which 90% are game developers. The studio plans to expand its workforce to 400-420 employees by the end of 2025.

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[BennyBlanco]

Me pulling up to nexusmods on day 3

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Glorious

 

[FeralEcho]

EVE with mods

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It is now also working on optimizing the game to ensure “smooth” player experience even on the Steam Deck.

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Jesus Christ, how can this company be winning so much?

 

[lughnasadh123]

Only played the SB demo so far but it was a lot of fun, glad to hear they're seeing some success from it. Bonus good news for the work on Steam Deck.

 

[yogaflame]

Wow. Good job shift up. A very good quality product is always rewarded. I already finished the game 4 times, and I still enjoy playing Stellar blade for my Ps5 from time to time, because the combat, the graphics and exploration is very relaxing. I hope for DLC expansion for Ps5, and maybe add a visual update for Ps5 pro like Ray tracing.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

• Goddess of Victory: Nikke generated ₩153 billion ($105.4 million) for Shift Up in 2024, down 7% year-over-year. It accounted for 69.6% of the studio’s total revenue.
• Shift Up noted that “competition has become very fierce, and as a result, some major games have seen a decline in user interest,” but Goddess of Victory: Nike managed to retain its player base thanks to various events and collaborations.
• In 2025, the company also plans to officially launch the game in China, saying that pre-registrations have been in line with expectations.

I was just reading this morning a Sensor Tower report where they said that Nikke hit $1 billion in revenue since it launched back in November 2022, and that was achieved without the CN market. Once they release in China, they should see quite a sizable boost in revenue.

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, developed by South Korean studio Shift Up and published by Level Infinite [a subsidiary of Tencent], has reached $1 billion in global revenue since its launch on November 4, 2022.

Between its launch and January 31, 2024, NIKKE secured the 29th position in global mobile game revenue rankings and claimed the top spot among mobile squad RPGs. This achievement is particularly significant for Tencent, as NIKKE contributes 5.4% to their mobile revenue, making it one of their key drivers for global market expansion.

As per Sensor Tower data, Japan leads revenue generation with a commanding 54% share, while South Korea and the United States follow with 16.2% and 16% respectively.

《승리의 여신: 니케》, 전 세계 누적 매출 10억 달러 달성

‘ShiftUp’이 개발하고 ‘Level Infinite(Tencent의 글로벌 게임 퍼블리싱 브랜드)’가 서비스하고 있는 《승리의 여신: 니케》는 2022년 11월 4일 전 세계 출시되었습니다. 각기 다른 매력을 가진 캐릭터와 몰입감 높은 스토리라인을 기반으로 서브컬처 팬들을 빠르게 사로잡은 《승리의 여신: 니케》는 2025년 1월 1일, 최근 2년 간 가장 높은 일 매출을 경신하며 인기가 계속되고 있음을 증명했습니다.

sensortower.com

 

[ssringo]

In 2025, the company also plans to officially launch the game in China, saying that pre-registrations have been in line with expectations.

Woah, Nikke has done as well as it has without China? I actually just started playing it myself to replace another gacha.

Shift Up expects the performance of the upcoming PC version of Stellar Blade to be “better than that of the console version, especially in the Asian game market.” It is now also working on optimizing the game to ensure “smooth” player experience even on the Steam Deck.

Please hurry. I've been wanting to replay the game but am trying to hold out for the PC version!

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Intrigued by Project Witches. A next-gen Bayonettalike would be sweet. I wished they used characters from their first game, Destiny Child, a lot of great ones (and very good lore) to use as a foundation.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

It's coooming!!

 

[Chuck Berry]

Crazy that we'll be hearing about a new project already. In a world where new games from devs take half a decade+, its quite mindblowing seeing these guys hustling so hard when Stellar Blade isn't even a fucking year old yet!

Western devs continue to be curbstomped to oblivion.

 

[MALpractice311]

Glad to hear it. I'm not into mobile games, but Stellar Blade is my game of the generation thus far. I'll be there day one for the sequel.

 

[Fake]

Hell yeah. Looking foward their next game.

 

[Generic]

They need to drop the open-world levels in Stellar Blade 2, these nearly ruined the game.

Edit: also how much did Stellar Blade sell? They seem more optimistic about the sales on PC than PS5.

 

[Aenima]

Intrigued by Project Witches. A next-gen Bayonettalike would be sweet. I wished they used characters from their first game, Destiny Child, a lot of great ones (and very good lore) to use as a foundation.

Whatever they cooking, will be there day 1. Shift Up is one of my favorite new studios. Hope Kim Hyung Tae keeps in charge of the studio. Love his art but also how based he is. Really smart choice to take time to make a separate version of Nikke to release in China, instead of releasing the game everywhere and had to deal with mass censorship.

 

[yogaflame]

They need to drop the open-world levels in Stellar Blade 2, these nearly ruined the game.

For me, the open world is good for Stellar blade. The

Spoiler

Great Desert level

is the only problem with the simple design and balancing. But its there first IP, and they learned allot, and I'm sure they will handle open world much better next time.

 

[Aenima]

They need to drop the open-world levels in Stellar Blade 2, these nearly ruined the game.

Hard disagree as thats where i had the most fun exploring and finding puzzles to solve. But all the content in the open world areas is optional. You just need to cross the wastelands and the desert areas to move to the next linear stage but all the content and quests in those areas are optional.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I'm divided about the semi-open world good or bad in Stellar Blade. It's a bit of both.

It has some interesting exploration but it's (almost) ruined by:

- Slowing down the pace too much. (sloppy teleportation doesn't help either)

- Difficulty spike with no respawn camps = frustration

- Lack of hidden bosses (only 2 variations of previous ones)

- No dynamic music!!! I can't understand this error with Monaca in charge of the OST. For a music wacko like me this was a major disappointment in both large areas.

 

[Generic]

For me, the open world is good for Stellar blade. The

Spoiler

Great Desert level

is the only problem with the simple design and balancing. But its there first IP, and they learned allot, and I'm sure they will handle open world much better next time.

The open world levels simply have too much walking and backtracking. Enemies re-spawning when you save a game didn't help either. This could have been easily remedied by allowing the player to fast-travel in the pause menu. Also, more phones, the more is better.

Hard disagree as thats where i had the most fun exploring and finding puzzles to solve. But all the content in the open world areas is optional. You just need to cross the wastelands and the desert areas to move to the next linear stage but all the content and quests in those areas are optional.

True but side quests are the best way to get XP, enemies drop too few XP.

 

[Mithos]

I just hope the PC version won't come with any draconian DRM.

 

[FubukiJ]

Love to see it. Very talented studio.

 

[R6Rider]

 

[Fess]

Please hurry. I've been wanting to replay the game but am trying to hold out for the PC version!

Lol yeah come on!! I only started it on the Pro, played until a bit after the parking garage boss. The PC release will be verrry interesting!

 

[Shubh_C63]

Go woke go broke
or
Big booty big business

 

[Felessan]

I was just reading this morning a Sensor Tower report where they said that Nikke hit $1 billion in revenue since it launched back in November 2022, and that was achieved without the CN market. Once they release in China, they should see quite a sizable boost in revenue.

Will be hard
NIKKE could be considered A-level by current standards (it has quite outdated design) and it'll be challenging to go against AAA gacha

 

[F31 Leopard]

Shift Up needs to make a full fledged GoV Nikke TPS.

 

[TGO]

They also reiterate that they expect Stellar Blade to sell more on PC than console.

EVE with mods

 

[NanaMiku]

Shift Up needs to make a full fledged GoV Nikke TPS.

They made this for April's fool

 

[adamsapple]

They also reiterate that they expect Stellar Blade to sell more on PC than console.

 

[Wonko_C]

EVE with mods

EVE with mods+VR thanks to Unreal VR Injector.

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Will be hard
NIKKE could be considered A-level by current standards (it has quite outdated design) and it'll be challenging to go against AAA gacha

Nikke is top of the class in the "side game" sub-genre, that's why it's so successful. Music, art, story, updates... everything is top-notch. The writing is really excellent, far superior to Stellar Blade. Games like Arknights or GFL2 have deeper gameplay but Nikke is pretty unique in its premise. They will do fine in China as long as they don't fuck around with the official censorship.

 

[JimboJones]

Me pulling up to nexusmods on day 3

 

[Pimpbaa]

Glad they are doing good, considering I like both Stellar Bade and Nikke. But Stellar Blade is a single player game, i don’t get the constant updates. I already played through it a few times when it was new. It’s not like Nikke where you keep going back to it. They should have added new game++ for their Nier Automata DLC.