Shift Up has been talking a lot about bringing Stellar Blade to PC. Now it seems we can believe that they are actually working on it.
This was shared on the GamingLeaksandRumors subreddit by user TheAppropriateBoop. A Tech4Gamers forum post by one of their users, cindiestarlight, found evidence that Shift Up is hiring for a PC port.
They have a job opening out now with the title Combat Designer – PC Development. Listed under the job listing requirements are:
1. PC skills design and data work
2. PC-related system design and production in progress
Most outlets seem to have assumed all we can gleam from this is ShiftUp’s interest in a PC port. But we think it’s interesting that they are specifically looking for a combat designer.
As we reported shortly after the game’s launch on the PlayStation 5, Shift Up was forced to admit they intentionally added input lag to Stellar Blade. This was a design decision so that most players would feel a proper motor response from when they press a button, to seeing the action on screen.
However, we argued that Shift Up was not being honest about these choices to their players. There were gamers who could absolutely tell that they added that input lag, but Shift Up dismissed their complaints.
So, this job opening may be intended to address this issue so that it does not come up again on PC. It is certainly interesting that it doesn’t seem to also be for PlayStation 5. Either Shift Up feels they can or have fixed that issue, or they don’t plan to make changes for this platform.
There is another job listing with the job title Battle Designer – Monster Creation. Listed under its requirements are as follows:
1. Monster skills, AI design, and data work.
2. Monster-related system design and production in progress.
This certainly sounds like Shift Up planning to make new monsters for Eve to fight in Stellar Blade. This could be coming exclusively to PC, or it could be for both PC and PlayStation 5.
It certainly seems that Shift Up was really determined to bring Stellar Blade to PC, since they talked about it at least two times already. We think it’s easy to guess the reason it didn’t launch with a PC port, even if Shift Up won’t say it directly.
Based on precedents for other PlayStation 5 exclusives, Sony’s contract with Shift Up required that exclusivity. It could have either been a contract that only funded the PlayStation 5 version, or there could have been a real provision that didn’t allow Shift Up to bring Stellar Blade to other platforms, for a set amount of time.
So Shift Up may be allowed to bring Stellar Blade to other platforms by April 2025 at the earliest. In spite of the controversies the game was mired in, we think it was good for Korean game developers to see its success, as well as that of Lies of P. We believe this is really the initial salvo of Korean studios into the global games market, with more developers and games coming in the future.
