Stellar Blade Hits 1 Million PC Sales in Just 3 Days; Shift Up CEO Aims for Sequel in 2027

South Korean developer Shift Up has announced a major milestone for Stellar Blade: the game has now surpassed 3 million units sold worldwide across all platforms, with 1 million units sold on PC alone in just three days following its release. The studio revealed this achievement in an official press release: Shift Up Newsroom.

With this performance, Stellar Blade has set a record as the highest concurrent user peak on Steam for a Sony-published single-player game. It also enjoys overwhelmingly positive reviews, with 94% of 15,600+ reviews on Steam being favorable—proof of its successful reception beyond the console community.

In a recent interview with Korean publication This Is Game, CEO Kim Hyung-tae shared exciting news and future aspirations. While working on additional content for Stellar Blade, the studio pivoted from expanding the first title with DLC to planning an entirely new entry. Though development hasn’t advanced significantly—due to full manpower being allocated to the PC version's launch—the CEO expressed hope that Stellar Blade 2 could release in 2027.

“We’re currently in the R&D period, thinking a lot about how we can show the vision of the next generation,” said Kim. “It would be great if it came out in 2027, but there are only three years left, so I can only say that we'll do our best.”

Given that Stellar Blade launched for PlayStation 5 in April 2024, such a timeline would be notably short for a full AAA sequel, which typically requires four or more years of development. Nevertheless, Kim remains optimistic, guaranteeing that they will present a great work when the time comes.

The interview also shed light on one of Stellar Blade's most discussed criticisms—its narrative depth. Kim acknowledged the shortcomings in storytelling, attributing it to the high costs of producing cutscenes and the limited narrative-focused development infrastructure in Korea. He noted that the development team had to scale back narrative elements for efficiency, which impacted the game's storytelling outside the main plot.

“In the early stages, we planned detailed story elements, including costume changes explained within the narrative. But we had to cut those due to budget constraints on cutscene production. Korea also doesn’t yet have fully developed systems or talent pools for narrative-centered AAA development.”

Still, he assured fans that the sequel would aim to deliver a richer, more cohesive narrative experience—now with a better understanding of both development challenges and audience expectations.

With the massive commercial success of its PC launch, Stellar Blade has officially established itself as a breakout hit for Shift Up. Whether or not the sequel makes it by 2027, fans can expect greater ambition, stronger storytelling, and a clear vision for the franchise’s evolution.

What narrative improvements would you like to see in Stellar Blade 2? Do you think a 2027 release is realistic? Let us know your thoughts below!