Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade, has announced that it has acquired Japanese studio Unbound. The studio, led by legendary game industry veteran Shinji Mikami, is focused on the development of PC and console titles and features a team of veteran developers. Along with announcing the acquisition, Shift Up and Unbound have also confirmed that “original PC and console-based IPs” are in development.
“I find it deeply meaningful to join forces with Unbound, which brings together a world-class development team led by CEO Shinji Mikami,” said Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim in a statement. “This acquisition will serve as an opportunity to deliver the best gaming experience to users worldwide and further solidify Shift Up’s global development competitiveness.”
In his own statement, Mikami emphasized that the partnership with Shift Up enables his team to dedicate more effort to creative aspects of game development.
“I am very pleased to be partnering with Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim and all the employees,” said Mikami. “I sense strong synergy with CEO Kim, who is also an active creator, and I believe this is an ideal partnership that allows us to focus on creativity. We will do our best to create fun games so that both companies, working as one, can meet our fans’ expectations.”
In its announcement, Shift Up has also noted that this acquisition of Unbound has bolstered its own game development pipeline for PC and consoles. This acquisition also means that, going forward, Shift Up will serve as the publisher for all of Unbound’s upcoming games.
Accompanying the press release announcing the acquisition is a video featuring Mikami and Kim, where the two discuss what this partnership means for both companies in the long term. The video also features many developers from Unbound discussing the level of freedom available to them under Mikami’s leadership.
The announcement comes just weeks after a report indicated that Mikami had been secretly working on a new major project at Unbound. Former Tango Gameworks producer Masato Kimura had spoken about working alongside Mikami in the past and hinted at working with him currently as well.
The official website for Unbound at the time also featured a strange message, and although it didn’t mention Mikami, it offered a cryptic message that could be related to his project.
“He creates it in his own unique environment,” it reads. “It has always been that way. He lives surrounded by what he loves. Nothing can bend him. People around me say I’m a bit strange, but I’ve gotten used to it. A world of his own? No, it’s a world that is not bound by anything.”
“If asked to list five characteristics, he would probably say, ‘Numbers are interesting, because constraints are like a game.’ There’s probably no particular problem, he’ll be fine.”
In the meantime, Shift Up has also confirmed that it is working on a sequel to Stellar Blade. The confirmation came from a presentation last year, in which the studio also stated that it was targeting a 2026 launch window for the game.
