Shift Up CEO Argues AI Is Essential for Smaller Studios to Match US and China Manpower
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Shift Up CEO Hyung-tae Kim stated at a recent economic event that AI tools are becoming necessary for smaller regional studios to compete with the massive thousand-person teams common in China and the U.S.
The development landscape is shifting rapidly, and studio leadership is feeling the pressure of scale. As reported by GameMeca and detailed by IGN South Africa, Shift Up CEO and Stellar Blade director Hyung-tae Kim recently spoke at South Korea's 2026 Economic Growth Strategy event, highlighting the massive resource gap facing developers outside of industry giant regions. While a major release from his team typically utilizes a crew of around 150 people, studios in countries like China frequently deploy teams ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 developers on a single project.
To bridge this overwhelming gap, Kim argued that studios in smaller nations must embrace artificial intelligence. According to his remarks, modern tools allow a single individual to handle workloads that previously required massive teams, potentially up to 100 people. For mid-sized developers trying to compete on graphical fidelity, scope, and production value in a crowded global market, leveraging automated tech is quickly becoming viewed as a survival strategy rather than a mere luxury.
This perspective opens up a broader conversation about how the industry operates across different regions. While players on console and PC expect blockbuster experiences with regular updates and expansive worlds, the human cost and financial risk of scaling up traditional development teams are hitting a ceiling. As studios weigh the pressures of production against the realities of sustainable output, the debate over automation in creative pipelines will undoubtedly shape how future games are built, funded, and delivered to our libraries.
Tags: Industry News, Stellar Blade, Shift Up, AI Development, Game Development
Original article: IGN South Africa