Stellar Blade’s runaway success on PC proves South Korea is positioning itself to change into a serious drive in world gaming, and specialists agree

The PC launch of Stellar Blade has confirmed exceptionally well-liked, with developer Shift Up revealing spectacular gross sales earlier this week in its newest monetary report. But it isn’t solely an enormous win for the studio and writer Sony, it is also exemplary of a booming video games business in South Korea in search of world enlargement.

As introduced by Shift Up, the PC model of Stellar Blade offered one million copies in its first three days on Steam, and now boasts over 3m gross sales on PC and console mixed. Further, its peak concurrent participant depend on Steam sits at nearly 200k – as per Shift Up’s newest monetary report, that is 2-5x increased than Sony’s different flagship triple-A video games (Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, Spider-Man, to call three), making it the all-time PC efficiency for a PS-exclusive IP launch. These are single-player video games solely, not together with the multiplayer and multi-platform success of Helldivers 2.

“Following the PS5 success of Stellar Blade as a triple-A IP, Shift Up leveraged its unique strengths in optimisation, user experience, content enhancements, and market specific marketing to continue its success in the PC market – becoming a developer with proven hits across mobile, PC, and console,” wrote the studio in its report. And that success is ready to proceed all through the remainder of the yr.

The recognition of Stellar Blade parallels an explosion of Korean tradition on the whole. Okay-pop bands are world phenomenons; Okay-dramas and actuality exhibits are throughout Netflix; Korean movies are successful Oscars; and Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters movie is the factor that is dominating the whole lot proper now. And it is taking place in video games, too.

Just this week alone there’s been loads of information about Korean video games. On high of these Stellar Blade gross sales, there was the announcement of Woochi the Wayfarer from writer Nexon, a single-player triple-A motion sport primarily based on Korean mythology that is set for launch on PC and consoles. With its foundation in Korean tradition, it may comply with the type of nationalistic success Black Myth: Wukong obtained in China.

Then, together with these Stellar Blade figures, there’s Krafton’s Sims-like Inzoi heading to PS5, in addition to the delay of Pearl Abyss’ open-world journey Crimson Desert that can now be launched early subsequent yr “due to longer than expected timelines arising from schedule coordination and collaborations with multiple partners for offline distribution, voice-overs, console certification, and other launch preparations”, based on the corporate’s newest monetary report (thanks Gematsu).

This all follows the likes of Soulslike Lies of P celebrating the discharge of its DLC earlier this summer time; Nexon debating what indie means with its well-liked Dave the Diver sport, publishing its personal single-player Soulslike in The First Berserker: Khazan, and courting plagiarism issues with its Destiny-esque shooter The First Descendent; and PUBG developer Krafton buying Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks to spice up its motion sport output, whereas extra lately defending itself amid a Subnautica 2 lawsuit fiasco.

In brief, the Korean video games business seems to be thriving. Of course, the nation has lengthy had a historical past with video games, nevertheless it’s beforehand targeted predominantly on cell video games and on-line video games, to not point out its distinctive esports scene. Now, although, we’re seeing a shift in direction of PC and console gaming, and single-player video games too. Pearl Abyss following its MMORPG Black Desert with the single-player Crimson Desert is only one instance.

Lies of P director Choi Ji-won advised Eurogamer again on the Game Developer Conference the studio’s “primary focus from the concept of this game was to deliver a high quality, premium action game that is single-player,” although he admitted he’d be open to a Nightreign-esque multiplayer sport in future.

“In the future, instead of pegging us into a certain genre, we want the fans to look at us and actually know what sort of unique components that we deliver that they look forward to,” he added. “So they see our next work as a sort of projection of our trust and characters that we are building moving forward.”

Speaking on the broader business, Choi Ji-won mentioned: “There are many talented and remarkable developers in Korea, and we are grateful for the opportunity that in, especially the action game [genre], our game perhaps provided a little more motivation to the already talented developers in Korea to craft their own experience in the genre.”

Why is it that motion video games specifically are proving well-liked? “I think action in general is very intuitive, it’s primal,” Choi Ji-won steered. “It’s pretty natural that the action genre is big and there are many games actually in it. Also East Asia has a long tradition of action related materials, so because of that I think it comes very naturally.”

Now, the Korean business is trying to go world. Speaking to Game Informer (by way of Game Developer), Round8 Studio CEO Jason Park mentioned there are a “fixed number of people” taking part in single-player video games on console and PC in South Korea, a quantity that “won’t change”. That’s why Lies of P was made with a worldwide market in thoughts.

Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae mentioned solely 5 p.c of Stellar Blade’s PS5 gross sales got here from Korea, and console share is not rising – that is why the PC launch was so essential. He added that cell video games are designed round monetisation so enchantment to an older demographic. “That’s continued for the past 20 years, and players have become older, so it’s harder to acquire new and younger users,” he mentioned.

Niko Partners Director of Research & Insights Daniel Ahmad echoed these feedback to Eurogamer. “The Korean video game market remained flat in 2024 with narrowed growth prospects,” he mentioned. “This has led Korean video game companies, who have typically excelled at developing live service MMORPGs at home, to explore new geographies, genres and business models including premium single player games for the global market.”

What’s extra, Ahmad defined, the Korean authorities has doubled its funding from 2024 into home console sport growth, now allotted 15.5 billion gained. “The success of titles such as Stellar Blade and Lies of P show this strategy is delivering results for Shift Up and Neowiz, respectively,” he mentioned.

“While the goal is primarily growth outside of Korea, the industry is also looking to fill gaps at home with titles in genres that can challenge the dominance of long standing MMO, MOBA and shooter games in the country. Korean video game companies have also stepped up investment efforts in global studios and developing markets, with the aim of building a publishing portfolio with global appeal.”

Growth in Korea mirrors the same surge in China, the place the success of Black Myth: Wukong has paved the way in which for different action-RPGs, from Phantom Blade Zero, to Lost Soul Aside, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and Tides of Annihilation. Developers right here have equally moved from cell to PC and console growth, in search of world enchantment. Phantom Blade Zero director “Soulframe” Liang described this shift to Eurogamer as akin to the “golden age of PlayStation 1 and 2”.

Shift Up will comply with up the success of Stellar Blade with a sequel, set to handle points with the dearth of story within the first sport. Its subsequent unique sport, at present often known as Project Spirit, is in growth for a launch a while from 2027 onwards. Whether it may match Stellar Blade’s success with elevated competitors from different Korean builders stays to be seen.