Shift Up’s hiring spree all but confirms Project Spirits will run on UE5

Project Spirits, the next major IP of Shift Up—developer of Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE—is rumored to be the studio’s answer to anime giants like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. It also runs on Unreal Engine 5, according to a series of job postings.

As of Nov. 24, there are numerous job openings for Project Spirits on the official Shift Up website, including level designer, VFX artist, character artist, and more. Most of the job descriptions list Unreal Engine 5 and related tools as a preferred requirement, with the VFX artist role, for example, requiring three years of VFX experience in Unreal Engine 5 and Niagara.

This all but confirms the upcoming title runs on Unreal Engine 5. After all, it’s one of the most popular game engines, with many studios transitioning to it due to its tools and high-fidelity visuals. While it may raise early concerns about the game’s potential performance and graphics, it’s way too early to tell.

For context, most popular anime titles use either Unity or Unreal Engine. Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, as well as the highly anticipated Arknights: Endfield and Ananta all use Unity, while Neverness to Everness and Wuthering Waves use Unreal Engine 5 (Unreal Engine 4 in the case of WuWa).

Everything we know about Project Spirits so far

Project Spirits, formerly known as Project Witches, is “a subculture cross-platform title” that embraces the concept of Eastern Fantasy and is the next flagship IP from Shift Up. According to 2024 reports, the game is planned to be released in 2027 or later.

On the general side, we know that the project is developed for PC, consoles, and mobile by Shift Up and Tencent’s affiliate, Yongxing Interactive. On Nov. 26, Level Infinite, Tencent’s publishing group, also announced it had entered a publishing agreement with Shift Up.

When it comes to the game itself, there isn’t much we know about Project Spirits, as there’s no official information apart from the character art depicting two anime characters with an Asian architecture background. However, everything points to it being the studio’s answer to open-world anime RPGs like Genshin Impact.

The job postings repeatedly mentioned a passion for the following games as a preferred requirement:

• Genshin Impact
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Goddess of Victory: Nikke
• Stellar Blade
• Ghost of Tsushima

Roles of a level designer mention working with the open world while considering quests, monster placement, battles, and exploration. The VFX artist role also mentions Black Myth: Wukong and the Devil May Cry series when it comes to creating effects for weapons, skills, and environments, providing a clearer idea of what the game’s art style might lean towards.

Interestingly enough, the job postings for roles related to the game’s narrative also mentioned Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, one of the best games released in 2025, thanks to its unique story. It’s also the leading pick for 2025 Game of the Year awards.

So far, Project Spirits seems to be an open-world anime game with possible gacha elements. And considering Shift Up already created Destiny Child and Goddess of Victory: Nikke, this wouldn’t be an entirely new territory for the studio.