Stellar Blade was such a hit that its dev gave all employees a PS5 Pro and a roughly $3,400 bonus, and this horny action RPG isn't even on PC yet

Stellar Blade was wildly successful in 2024, having sold one million copies in just its first two months on the market, so developer Shift Up had no choice but to reward all of its employees with an approximately $3,400 bonus and the coveted PS5 Pro. 

Shift Up doled out the presents at a January 6 event in Seoul, as Korean website Naver reported. A company representative told the site - according to a DeepL translation - that "the payment of plusses and bonuses is a way to encourage talent," and, indeed, you can witness the majesty of this exchange yourself in a video Shift Up posted to Twitter. 

Employees in their puffy winter jackets awkwardly grab bags stuffed with PlayStation's latest console before shuffling off to the convention center's exits. OK, fine, it's not as magisterial as the apocalyptic Stellar Blade's green wastelands, but it's still something. 

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What's even more impressive, though, is the fact that Stellar Blade crushed 2024 so hard when it isn't even out on PC yet; it'll come to PC later in 2025.  

Nonetheless, the PS5 game enjoyed overwhelmingly positive reviews, with our own review recognizing Stellar Blade's stylish melee combat. The game was also nominated for Best Action Game and Best Score at The Game Awards, with the most loyal of its player base bemoaning the fact that it didn't receive a nomination for Game of the Year, too. I mean, have you seen the size of protagonist Eve's, um, legendary combos? 

Stellar Blade dev says no, its RPG shooter about staring contests with anime butts (which you always win because butts don't have eyes) isn't getting a Netflix anime.