Shift Up, the developer best known for Stellar Blade, is making a major move to grow beyond its mobile roots and accelerate its push into PC and console gaming. The company has officially acquired Shinji Mikami’s Japan-based studio, Unbound, bringing it fully under Shift Up’s ownership.
Announced on April 1, 2026, the deal includes the purchase of all shares of Unbound. It’s a clear signal that Shift Up wants to scale up its global development footprint and increase the number of large, premium games it can build and ship for PC and consoles.
According to Shift Up, the acquisition strengthens its ability to develop more PC and console titles while also allowing the company to take a more active publishing role for Unbound’s future releases. Shift Up CEO Hyung Tae Kim framed the move as part of a bigger long-term vision: combining experienced creative leadership with stronger resources to take on larger, more ambitious projects.
For Mikami and the Unbound team, the partnership is positioned as a way to focus more fully on creating an original new game with improved support behind the scenes. Mikami noted that having stronger development backing and more resources should help both teams concentrate on what matters most—building a standout new title.
The biggest tease from the announcement is that a new project is already underway. Shift Up and Unbound confirmed that Shinji Mikami is actively working on a new large-scale game at Unbound. While key details like genre, target platforms, and a release window haven’t been shared yet, the project is confirmed to be in development, and the companies say more information will be revealed in the coming months.
For fans watching the PC and console space—especially anyone interested in what Mikami takes on next—this acquisition is one to keep on the radar, as it sets the stage for a bigger, better-funded original game coming out of Unbound under Shift Up’s expanding umbrella.
