Japan has always had a foothold in the international video game market, one could even argue that Japan is number 1 when it comes to developing video games, but as of late a few other competitors from East Asia have decided to toss their hat into contention. China has made some headway onto the global video game stage, with Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong’s trailer creating quite a buzz in the West, then South Korean developer Neowiz Games’ Lies of P took the video game world by storm just earlier this year, and now it seems SHIFT UP Corporation’s Stellar Blade is looking to advance South Korea’s presence in gaming further, having recently formally announced a publishing deal with Sony as reported by gamechosun.

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up formalizes a publishing deal with Sony Interactive Entertainment.

“Through this contract, Shift Up officially becomes the first Korean company to join Sony’s second party partner program.”https://t.co/kHQqmAPg5s pic.twitter.com/y9cyAYqIpm

— Okami Games (@Okami13_) November 24, 2023

With this announcement, SHIFT UP is the first South Korean company to use Sony’s second-party partner program, and with the publishing deal settled it looks like Stellar Blade will be the next big step in South Korea’s attempts to create media that can be enjoyed all across the world.

For many, this seems like an obvious next step for South Korea. Already the country has made huge waves in the music industry with the ever-popular k-pop genre, their k-dramas also have a very passionate fanbase in the West and even in the world of graphic novels one could argue some manhwas are more popular than many Western comics. With all these forms of entertainment slowly becoming popular across the globe it’s absolutely no surprise that companies like SHIFT UP Corporation are looking to make an impact in video games as well, a move many South Korean companies have been taking, especially recently with Neowiz Games’ Lies of P making people truly consider what the South Korean developing scene can do.

Though even within the context of its developer, Stellar Blade will be far from SHIFT UP’s first game to take over the West, Goddess of Victory: Nikke is also developed by them. An extremely popular mobile game in South Korea, with a very large and dedicated following in the West as well, so while signing a potentially profitable IP to be what will probably be a Playstation 5 exclusive for at least several months may be a risky endeavor SHIFT UP has experience appealing to the western market and likely has plans in mind doing this.

In any case, it’s exciting to see more South Korean games coming to the market.