Shift Up raises $320 million in IPO, largest for game company in South Korea since Krafton

Shift Up has finally gone public. The Stellar Blade developer’s IPO was the largest in South Korea for a game company in almost three years.

Goddess of Victory: Nikke

Shift Up raised ₩435 billion ($319.7 million) during its IPO on July 11, according Bloomberg. This is the second-largest public offering in South Korea this year, behind HD Hyundai Marine Solution ($553 million).

The demand for Shift Up’s stock was 266 times the number of shares available during the offering. By the end of the first day of trading, the price increased by 18% to ₩71k ($51.5) per share. Tencent, the studio’s second-largest holder, sold nearly 7.3 million shares at ₩60k ($43.5) each.

The Stellar Blade developer plans to use the IPO proceeds to diversify its game portfolio. Earlier this year, it launched a PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade, which sold around 1 million copies. However, the company is best known for its mobile game Goddess of Victory: Nikke, whose success raised concerns among investors ahead of the IPO.

In 2023, Shift Up reached a profit of ₩107 billion ($77.7 million), compared to a loss of ₩7.1 billion in the previous 12 months. Its revenue grew 154.5% year-over-year to ₩168.6 billion ($122 million), with Nikke accounting for nearly 98% of the total. So one of the main goals for the studio is to become less dependent on the performance of one game.

This is also the largest video game IPO in South Korea since 2021, when Krafton raised $3.8 billion. However, its shares quickly sank 20% after the offering, with investors having concerns that the company relies heavily on one game (PUBG).