Stellar Blade Has Inspired The Korean Gaming Industry, Says Ex-PlayStation Head

Stellar Blade was a major hit for developer Shift Up and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), and development on a sequel is already underway. Shift Up is based in South Korea, a region that’s quickly becoming a game development hub. However, Korean developers have mostly avoided the console market in the past because the PC is by far the most dominant platform in the country.

The reasons for South Korea’s PC-driven gaming culture are numerous. The government’s wide-scale investment in broadband infrastructure in the 1990s created a gaming café culture that catapulted multiplayer titles like Starcraft into extreme popularity in the region.

With Stellar Blade, an action-adventure that initially released exclusively on PlayStation 5, this culture could be changing. Former President of SIE, Shuhei Yoshida, recently gave an interview to the press on the subject while visiting Korea (via Minimap).

Stellar Blade Has Inspired Korean Console Developers

Shuhei Yoshida(1)

“When I visited G-Star [trade show] a few years ago, the scale was impressive, but most of the exhibitors focused on PC and mobile games. I wondered whether there was a controller culture in Korea at all, since console-focused booths were almost nonexistent,” Yoshida said. “But things have completely changed. In just a few years, Korean console game development has made remarkable progress, and the indie scene has grown tremendously.”

Yoshida played a major role in getting Stellar Blade published by Sony, having visited Korea himself to hear Shift Up’s pitch. He described what he saw as a “truly remarkable game” and decided to publish Stellar Blade, presumably compensating Shift Up for one-year exclusivity on PlayStation 5.

“After internal discussions, we decided to move forward with publishing. I believe [Stellar Blade] represents more than just one successful title. If the game succeeds, it could inspire many other Korean developers to pursue their ambitions. Even today’s conference and the growing confidence among Korean creators, in my view, owe something to Stellar Blade’s influence,” Yoshida announced.

There’s no doubt that South Korea is becoming a bigger player in the mainstream gaming industry. Major corporations like Krafton (PUBG), Nexon (MapleStory) and Neowiz (Lies of P) continue to expand and purchase additional studios.