From an artist to a dollar millionaire: the director of the incredible action adventure Stellar Blade is among the richest people in Korea
Kim Hyung-tae's journey began as an ordinary video game artist, and then Kim managed to found Shift Up, the studio that gave the world the hit PlayStation 5 game Stellar Blade. And now his net worth has reached an incredible amount.
Here's What We Know
According to Forbes, Kim Hyung-tae is currently one of the fifty richest people in South Korea, with a fortune estimated at approximately USD 725 million. Much of Shift Up's financial success is due to their hugely popular mobile game Goddess of Victory: Nikke, which literally flooded the market. It was thanks to the profits from this project that the studio was able to afford to experiment with a story-oriented project, which is Stellar Blade.
It is noteworthy that Kim Hyung-tae remains directly involved in the creation of his games. In the case of Stellar Blade, he acted not only as the head of the company, but also as a director, co-producer, and co-designer.
Now it is particularly interesting to see what Shift Up's next step will be. The studio is in a favourable position, having posted record financial results in 2024. However, the further direction of development will depend on their ambitions and strategic vision. It is known that the developers are already working on a new project, but there are no clear signals whether it will be closer in spirit to the mobile Nikke or to the console action game Stellar Blade.
Source: Forbes
