BUSAN — When Kim Seung-chul took the helm of NEOWIZ as co-CEO in 2021, the corporate was going through dire wants for a significant shift in its operation.
The corporate was as soon as thought of one among Korea’s massive three recreation firms within the 2000s, publishing a number of hit titles whereas video games developed by its personal studios achieved noticeable success.
Within the 2010s, nevertheless, the home market shifted towards cellular and massively multiplayer on-line role-playing video games (MMORPGs), and lots of of NEOWIZ’s in-house titles struggled to achieve traction, leaving a handful of board recreation franchises to hold a lot of the corporate’s profitability for an extended time frame.
A turning level got here when the corporate launched its motion recreation, Lies of P, in 2023 and achieved world success.
The sport didn’t depend on what had lengthy been thought of the standard system for Korean video games, akin to MMORPGs involving large-scale player-vs-player content material, pay-to-win system and convoluted storylines that didn’t attraction to a big swath of gamers.
As a substitute, Lies of P centered on delivering a powerful narrative by PC and console platforms and adopted a souls-like gameplay. Souls-like refers to a subgenre of motion video games that adopted FromSoftware’s Darkish Souls sequence, recognized for his or her excessive issue and combat-focused play that requires sturdy participant ability.
A promotion picture of Lies of P: Overture / Courtesy of NEOWIZ
Throughout an interview with The Korea Occasions on the sidelines of the G-Star 2025 recreation conference in Busan on Thursday, Kim recalled that the second marked “a significant pivot within the firm’s total course,” serving to the corporate give attention to “constructing franchises which have sturdy mental property (IP).”
“For years on this enterprise, I felt like nothing was actually accumulating, with tasks following the identical cycle of launching with sturdy income after which slowly fading,” stated Kim, who started his profession at NEOWIZ in 2002.
“Whereas getting ready Lies of P, we benchmarked PC and console studios like Capcom, and noticed how its franchise IP akin to Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Avenue Fighter saved rising by long-running sequence. That made me notice how essential narrative is in constructing a franchise. Sturdy storytelling creates emotional attachment, and that’s what brings followers again when a sequel is launched.”
Choi Ji-won, left, Director of ROUND8, a NEOWIZ studio that developed Lies of P: Overture, speaks through the 2025 Korea Recreation Awards in Busan, Wednesday. Korea Occasions picture by Nam Hyun-woo
Launched in September 2023, Lies of P gained grand prize at that 12 months’s Korea Recreation Awards — the nation’s greatest honor in video games — and has bought over 3 million copies worldwide thus far. The brand new course for NEOWIZ introduced the corporate much more success that 12 months as SANABI, an indie recreation it printed, grew to become a shock hit available in the market because of its stable storyline and distinctive gameplay.
NEOWIZ has efficiently prolonged the success of Lies of P by releasing its first downloadable content material (DLC), Lies of P: Overture. The DLC clinched two prizes at this 12 months’s Korea Recreation Awards, changing into the primary of its form to take action. The corporate will publish SANABI: A Haunted Day as a free DLC on Nov. 27.
Kim stated the corporate’s pivot is geared toward sustaining development by sequence titles that may construct lasting fan bases fairly than competing within the already saturated MMORPG market, which might generate explosive short-term income if profitable however carries a really low chance of success.
A gameplay scene of Lies of P: Overture / Captured from official YouTube video of Lies of P
“You could suppose PC and console video games generate solely one-off gross sales, however they will proceed to make income as a result of they don’t seem to be certain to a live-service mannequin (like typical on-line video games),” Kim stated.
“Prior to now, when video games have been bought solely as offline packages, this mannequin wasn’t doable. Gross sales relied on whether or not the field was on retailer cabinets, with new titles pushing older ones out. Now, with digital distribution, a recreation like GTA 5 nonetheless seems on Steam, and gross sales rise once more throughout promotions. It permits for regular, long-term income.”
Kim famous that when a recreation firm builds a stable “again catalogue,” a time period referring to older titles that proceed to promote, gross sales usually rise at any time when a brand new launch comes out. He stated that having a number of tasks within the pipeline offers the corporate “a way of regular progress, even when there aren’t any explosive short-term revenues.” He added that Lies of P additionally noticed a rise in base-game gross sales after its DLC launch.
Kim stated that is the energy of narrative-driven video games, as sturdy storytelling creates alternatives for transmedia growth into movies or animation, citing the case of Cyberpunk, which expanded its universe by the Netflix sequence “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.” Kim added that NEOWIZ can also be exploring alternatives for movie and video variations for Lies of P and is in touch with trade companions.
A promotion picture of NEOWIZ’s SANABI / Courtesy of NEOWIZ
Apart from NEOWIZ, many different Korean recreation studios have been attempting to increase their portfolios with narrative-driven PC and console titles lately, but only some have succeeded. Kim stated the primary purpose is the shortage of certified manpower.
“Probably the most troublesome problem is hiring builders with expertise in single-campaign or narrative-driven video games, as a result of most builders in Korea have backgrounds in cellular MMORPGs,” he stated.
“We plan to launch an aggressive hiring marketing campaign subsequent 12 months as a result of our new technique is now on monitor,” he stated. “Many MMORPG studios shut down as a result of the style carries such a excessive threat of failure. Our strategy provides extra long-term development and permits builders to protect and construct their capabilities over time.” He stated the corporate can also be hiring abroad specialists in publishing.
NEOWIZ Co-CEO Kim Seung-chul speaks throughout an interview with The Korea Occasions on the sidelines of G-Star 2025 recreation conference in Busan, Thursday. Courtesy of NEOWIZ
Together with growing its personal video games, NEOWIZ is specializing in narrative-driven video games in its abroad publishing enterprise. NEOWIZ signed publishing contracts with Polish recreation developer Zakazane in October 2024 and in U.S.-based Wolfeye Studios in January this 12 months. The previous is growing a story RPG set within the American West, whereas Wolfeye is engaged on a sci-fi RPG title that emphasizes storytelling and quests.
“We’re an organization that actively invests in groups like these. If there’s a studio that desires to develop its IP over the following decade, we wish to meet them and construct that partnership,” Kim stated.
