Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae has been named one of the 'Most Influential Game Developers of the Year' by China's largest social media platform, Weibo.

Weibo hosts an annual awards ceremony called the 'Weibo V Influence Summit'. It selects and honors major figures and contents that have exerted significant influence throughout the year within Weibo across fields such as influencers, game developers, entertainment figures, manga, animation, and knowledge.

And among the five game developers selected this year, Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae is proudly included. CEO Kim Hyung-tae stands shoulder to shoulder with Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe, the developer of Palworld; Final Fantasy VII Remake Director Naoki Hamaguchi; Game Science CEO Feng Ji, the developer of Black Myth: Wukong; and S-Game CEO Liang Qiwei, the creator of Phantom Blade Zero.

In response to this, CEO Kim Hyung-tae delivered a message of gratitude via Weibo. CEO Kim Hyung-tae stated, "I sincerely thank the organizers for selecting me for such a meaningful award. It is deeply touching and a tremendous honor to receive this alongside peers whom I have long deeply respected," adding that, "All of this glory is thanks to all the Chinese users who have loved and supported Stellar Blade. I want to express my sincere gratitude once again. I believe the only way to repay you is to greet you with an even better game as soon as possible. I and the team will continue to dedicate ourselves to creating amazing games."

Currently, CEO Kim Hyung-tae is developing the next Stellar Blade installment, 'Stellar Blade: Blood Rain'. Set after the events of the previous work, it features a new protagonist, 'Eby'. Unlike Eve, who used a sword as the main weapon, Eby showcases close-quarters combat utilizing gauntlets. CEO Kim Hyung-tae will serve as the general director for the next work as well, and Shift Up will directly handle both development and publishing.