S
Shift Up
A game design and development studio that engages in game production and promotional video and music production
About Shift Up
Shift Up Co., Ltd. is a South Korean video game developer and publisher founded in 2013 by the acclaimed game designer and illustrator Kim Hyung-tae, creator of the Blade & Soul artwork. The studio, headquartered in Seoul, is best known for developing the action-adventure game Stellar Blade (2024) and the hit live-service mobile shooter Goddess of Victory: Nikke, published by its strategic shareholder Tencent. Shift Up began as a console-focused developer, releasing its first title, Destiny's Child, in 2016, before pivoting to mobile and high-fidelity console games. In 2023 the company became Sony Interactive Entertainment's first Korean second-party developer. In July 2024 Shift Up completed its initial public offering on the KOSPI market in Seoul, raising around US$300 million in one of South Korea's largest game IPOs in years. The company's commercial success, driven by Nikke's global revenue, funded a major expansion of its workforce and development pipeline, with Stellar Blade recognised for its technical quality and strong global sales. Shift Up continues to develop new IP across console, PC and mobile platforms, targeting a global audience with premium production values.
Source: Dealroom company dataAt a glance
- Status
- Listed
- Founded
- 2013
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Listing
- IPO 2024
- Sector
- Consumer Services
- Power Law
- Unicorn$1–10B valuation tierThoroughbred$100M+ revenue
Knowledge graph
More headlines
Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Series B and later5 investors entered at this stage
Kakao Corp
Kakao Ventures
SmileGate Investment
IMM Investment
Tencent
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
team presence
across markets
Patents
2 active patent families included in this estimate.
A patent family groups patent filings for the same invention. Source: Dealroom · PatSnap.
Market sentiment
An AI-synthesised read of the highest-engagement posts about Shift Up on X, ranked by likes and reposts, corporate channels excluded.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
See Shift Up on the full Dealroom platform
Live deal flow, founder pedigree, hiring signals, revenue trajectory, and the full cap table.