Hyung-tae Kim, the CEO of Korean game developer Shift Up and director of the highly anticipated game Stellar Blade, has been awarded a Presidential Commendation for his work in growing South Korea’s video game industry. According to a report from Daum (via Automaton), the award recognizes both Stellar Blade and his previous game, the 2022 action RPG Goddess of Victory: Nikke.
Kim expressed gratitude to the developers and fans who supported Shift Up, stating that they would continue working hard to elevate the global presence of Korean games.
Nikke, originally a mobile game, came to PC in 2023 but is still only available through its own dedicated app. Stellar Blade, developed by the same team, was their first game released on Steam, reaching a much larger Western audience. While the game gained attention for its visuals, it’s a well-made action game that has sold over three million copies on PC and PlayStation 5 as of July 2025.
South Korea’s president isn’t the only one impressed with Shift Up. Last November, Shuhei Yoshida, a former head at PlayStation, said Stellar Blade helped boost confidence among game developers in Korea.
Shift Up is developing a sequel to Stellar Blade. According to comments made in June by Kim, the sequel will improve upon the story, which was a weak point in the first game. In addition, the studio is working on a new, currently unnamed project called Project Spirit, and it will be published by Tencent.
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2025-12-16 20:47