Shift Up to publish Stellar Blade sequel without Sony

Probably won’t be a PlayStation exclusive now.

Shift Up will self-publish its sequel to Stellar Blade, marking a big change from the original, which was published by Sony as a PS5 exclusive in April 2024. A successful PC port followed over a year later in June 2025.

The self-publishing news was announced via Shift Up’s Q1 2026 earnings report.

“We expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively,” Shift Up said. Then continued with the meatier assertion that it is “formulating an optimal go-to-market strategy designed to maximize sales and reach a broad global audience from day one.”

Which, yes, sounds like a way of telling investors “Don’t worry! We’ll make you money!” but it’s where that money could be coming from that’s the interesting part. As Sony is no longer publishing, it’s unlikely that the sequel to Stellar Blade will be a PlayStation exclusive. It could see a simultaneous day one PC launch, or even an Xbox or Switch release.

Shift Up also plans to publish Unbound’s titles, the Shinji Mikami-founded studio it acquired this year.

Details for the Stellar Blade sequel, and new “Eastern Fantasy” game, Project Spirits (previously Project Witches), will be revealed “within the year”. Project Spirits won’t get the in-house publishing treatment, as Level Infinite will be handling it instead, as they do for Goddess of Victory: Nikke.

Future Nikke plans were lighter in the earnings report, with the only notable takeaway being that yep, it’s still making Shift Up a lot of money – in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in particular. The 3.5th anniversary update was the “#1 top grossing on both iOS and Android in Korea, #1 top grossing on both iOS and Android in Japan, #4 on iOS in Taiwan, and #17 on iOS in the U.S.”

Shift Up expects Nikke’s “large-scale” 4th anniversary update to surpass these anniversary milestones.

For those curious, here’s the full statement on why Stellar Blade will be self-published:

“Development of the next Stellar Blade title is progressing smoothly, on track to meet our targeted quality standards.

Notably, starting with this next title, Shift Up will transition to a first-party service model. This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively. Building on the strong fandom and evergreen IP status established by the first Stellar Blade, we are formulating an optimal go-to-market strategy designed to maximize sales and reach a broad global audience from day one.

With three key tailwinds — high-quality self-publishing capabilities, a sales maximization strategy, and a proven IP fanbase — we are confident the next title will deliver meaningfully improved results compared to its predecessor.”

See more: Stellar Blade sequel, Shift Up, Goddess of Victory: Nikke