Stellar Blade is obviously a very well-received and successful game, whatever you may think of it. It probably made developer Shift Up a bunch of cash, at least enough for them to work on a sequel relatively worry-free, but apparently that wasn't always the case.
In a new interview with Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim, he explains that actually finding funding for Stellar Blade ended up being a bit of a challenge, despite how successful the game is right now. According to Kim, Shift Up was in a position so dire, that it only had enough money left to fund the game's developers for three months.
This is apparently because Shift Up was constantly told by investors that it sought out that Stellar Blade was "a risk rather than an asset", and Kim explains that he was often told that the game wouldn't break even.
"We went to many places looking for investment, but many investors and major companies told us that Stellar Blade was a risk rather than an asset to the company," says Kim. "We were often asked, 'Why are you making a game like this when it’s obvious you won’t even break even?'"
"Some investors even told us that if we abandoned this game and worked on another project instead, they would value the company more highly. At the time, I wasn’t confident either. There were moments when I wondered whether it was really right for us to make a game like this in Korea."
Of course, we now know that Shift Up eventually found an investor in Sony and PlayStation, what with the title being exclusive to the platform for a little while before it launched on PC. With that in mind, it's very possible that Shift Up may have continued to struggle with investors if PlayStation and Sony had not come along, meaning they're somewhat responsible for saving the game entirely.
It's weird to see how much a company's outlook can shift over such a short space of time, what with Sony having recently dropped Hideo Kojima's Physint, reportedly due to missed deadlines and a bloated budget. That being said, Stellar Blade's deal was probably greenlit before Concord was a thing, so risks weren't seen as much of an issue. Regardless, I'm sure many are glad it took the risk anyway.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.thegamer.com/stellar-blade-saved-playstation-sony/
