Investors in Shift Up fear that the South Korean studio’s independence could be at stake if the Chinese giant changes that.

Stellar Blade has been a huge success for Shift Up, which has primarily developed mobile games but now has a successful action game on PC. We wrote about this the other day. A Stellar Blade sequel for the PlayStation 5 and PC is confirmed, and with Shift Up continuing to work on the mobile series that helped the studio grow, the company’s future looks bright.

However, some investors fear that Shift Up could lose its independence, casting doubt over the studio’s future. According to the South Korean publication Global Economic, investors are concerned about the close relationship between Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-Tae and Tencent‘s shares. Kim currently owns 39% of the studio, while Tencent trails closely behind with a 34.58% stake. Investors are concerned that Tencent could overtake Kim by buying more shares. Coupled with the fact that Tencent is Shift Up‘s publishing partner for mobile games, the studio could lose its decision-making power.

Tencent has been making strategic investments in the gaming industry for years, holding stakes in companies such as Ubisoft, Remedy, Epic Games, Funcom, and Kadokawa, the parent company of FromSoftware. In the case of Riot Games, Tencent bought the studio outright after steadily increasing its stake. It’s too early to tell if Shift Up is really in trouble. However, considering Tencent‘s key role in Shift Up‘s revenue through the studio’s mobile games and its proximity to becoming the studio’s largest shareholder, it seems Tencent is ready to add Shift Up to its internal portfolio of studios.

Perhaps Tencent will suddenly buy the team for itself, and seeing Shift Up’s success, it could happen any minute now.

Source: WCCFTech, Global Economic