Shiftup CTO Expresses Personal Expectation for Early Microsoft Project Helix Developer Kit

Seeking platforms beyond Sony Group Corp., Shift Up Corp. requested early developer kit support on November 9 for Microsoft Corp.’s upcoming console, Project Helix, creditnews.kr reported.

“If you can provide the development kit to Korea as soon as possible from an engineer’s point of view, we will make our best efforts for development for it,” Dong-gi Lee, chief technology officer at Shift Up, said at the K-Console Conference held at Lotte World Tower in Seoul, according to creditnews.kr. Lee noted the remarks reflected personal expectations rather than an official company platform announcement, creditnews.kr reported.

Project Helix serves as the internal code name for Microsoft’s next-generation console, creditnews.kr reported. Jason Ronald, vice president of next-generation Xbox at Microsoft, announced at the Game Developers Conference 2026 in March that Project Helix is engineered to run both console and PC titles, featuring a custom Advanced Micro Devices Inc. system-on-chip, creditnews.kr reported.

Microsoft plans to distribute alpha versions of the hardware to game developers starting in 2027, according to creditnews.kr.

Shift Up demonstrated multiplatform capability with its debut console title, Stellar Blade, creditnews.kr reported. Released exclusively for the PlayStation 5 in April 2024, the game arrived on PC in June 2025 and launched on the Nintendo Switch 2 as Stellar Blade Complete Edition on November 5, creditnews.kr reported.

Lee explained at the conference that the studio factored multiplatform support into its workflow from the outset by prioritizing the PC environment, according to creditnews.kr.

The upcoming sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, unveiled by Shift Up at Summer Game Festival 2026 in June, is also expected to launch across multiple platforms, creditnews.kr reported.

Unlike the original release, the studio is handling publishing duties directly for the sequel, granting it complete control over platform choices, creditnews.kr reported. Shift Up postponed the release schedule for another new title, Project Spirits, following a drop in third-quarter revenue, according to creditnews.kr.