According to Shift Up CEO Hyung-tae Kim, the reason both of his studio’s biggest hits, Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Stellar Blade, feature an abundance of ‘sexy female characters’ is, simply put, that’s just what he – and his audience – wants to see on the screen.
Eve (TBA) leaps into the fray in Stellar Blade (2024), Shift Up
Kim, who in addition to his role overseeing the company also served as a lead character artist on both titles, offered this insight into his ‘titillating’ design philosophy during an interview given to the Japanese news outlet GAME Watch at the recent 2024 Tokyo Game Show, as machine translated by DeepL.
At the onset of their time together, Kim was immediately pressed on the topic of Shift Up’s penchant for developing games with attractive female cast members, with the outlet inquiring as to whether or not Nikke was intended from the outset to be “a game that draws the eye to the attractive backsides of the characters” (For those unaware, the popular mobile title tasks players with helping a given female character use various firearms to win against waves of enemy, all from a ‘cover position’ which highlights said character’s rear assets).
Sakura (Choi Jung-yoon) is locked and loaded in Goddess of Victory: Nikke (2022), Shift Up
In turn, the Shift Up head explained, “Nikke is based on a game project that was selected in a game planning competition held for in-house staff. However, at the time, the characters were not the main focus of the game.”
“I directed the direction that it would be better to show the shooting figure on the character’s back or in front of the character, and this is how we changed the direction,” he further detailed. “After that, the development staff’s efforts and hard work led to the creation of Nikke as we know it today.”
Elegg (Kim Hyeon-ji) is ready to take on The Rapture in Goddess of Victory: Nikke (2022), Shift Up
On the subject of Nikke, Kim was then asked how exactly he approached designing the game’s cast, to which he admitted, “What I consider most important when designing characters is to make sure that the narrative is firmly linked to the game’s story.”
Yan (Aimi Terakawa) shows off her new swimsuit in Goddess of Victory: Nikke (2022), Shift Up
From there, Game WATCH noted that in both Nikke and Stellar Blade, there were “a lot of characters whose body lines are clearly visible” (such as Alice in the former and protagonist Eve in the latter), and as such raised the question of whether or not this was a design element that Kim was “particular” about.
However, rather than any sort of ‘concerted effort to make sexy characters’, the Shift UP CEO instead admitted that when it came to both games featuring attractive casts, “I don’t think it’s something that we consciously set out to do, but I also do it because I like it, so I think it’s the result that came out naturally when I followed my instincts.”
Lily Vignette (TBA) introduces herself to EVE (TBA) in Stellar Blade (2024), Shift Up
Putting a stamp on this portion of the interview, Kim concluded his reflection with the anecdotal note that “Incidentally, in the case of Nikke, the percentage of female creators is high.”
“Despite this, the fact that such design is so important to me means that, if anything, the staff has already been imbued with my DNA,” he playfully joked. “I am happy and satisfied with it in the shadows.”
The crew of Neon Genesis Evangelion is ready to join the fight against The Raptures in Goddess of Victory: Nikke (2022), Tencent
News
50 Cent Clowns Dame Dash For Hitting ‘New Low’ After Dental Blunder Claim
50 Cent has continued to mock Dame Dash by claiming that the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder has hit a “new low.” In a new interview on his America Nu Network, Dash bizarrely claimed that he was “praying” for his teeth to fall out when…
Eminem Dissed By Lil Pump After Donald Trump Wins Presidential Election
Lil Pump has celebrated Donald Trump’s presidential victory by taking a shot at Eminem, who had publicly endorsed Kamala Harris. The “Gucci Gang” rapper, one of Trump’s biggest supporters in Hip Hop, took to X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the former Apprentice star reclaimed the White House…
Cardi B Pens Heartfelt Letter To Kamala Harris After Election Loss: ‘I Am So Proud Of You’
Cardi B let the world know that Kamala Harris won her vote by appearing at a campaign rally days before the election, and now she has written a public message of support after the Vice President’s loss to Donald Trump. On Wednesday (November…
Keri Russell Jokes She’s Been with Matthew Rhys ‘So Long’ She Doesn’t ‘Remember Other Relationships’
The star of ‘The Diplomat’ met Rhys on the set of their FX show The Americans, which began in 2013, and they welcomed a son together in 2016 Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys at the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards…
Kelsea Ballerini Raves About Boyfriend Chase Stokes’ Outer Banks Costars — Including ‘Hot’ Madelyn Cline — in Sweet TikTok
The country singer also revealed which star she’s spent the most time with and who she plays card games with as she praised the show’s cast Kelsea Ballerini (left); Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline in ‘Outer Banks’. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Jackson Lee…
Chase Stokes Admits to Using His Name to Get Reservations – and His Outer Banks Costars Use His Name Too
The actor hilariously admitted to name-dropping himself at restaurants, prompting costars including Drew Starkey to admit they use Stokes’ name too Chase Stokes attends Omega House Paris 2024. Photo: Mike Marsland/Getty Chase Stokes isn’t afraid to name-drop himself to get into a restaurant,…
End of content
No more pages to load