Neowiz and Round8's Lies of P sequel has now "entered full production phase."
While we already knew that a sequel to the critically and commercially acclaimed 2023 soulslike was on the way, South Korean company Neowiz — which co-developed as well as published the soulslike adventure — has now confirmed, via its latest financial report to investors, that its prototype has been "approved," paving the way to a "full development phase." Unfortunately no release window was mentioned.
Elsewhere in the financial report, the company intimated that income generated by Lies of P DLC, Overture, had now "stablized," and it was now "executing strategies for global IP franchising and fandom-centered operations to drive robust revenue growth." Oh, and there's a "new IP" in the works, too.
Interestingly, asked about how to stand out in a competitive market and attract the best talent, Neowiz's management stressed that it considered its expertise in storytelling to be a key USP, adding "narrative is a core competency for Round8 and a key element in driving user immersion."
"In an environment where global development costs are rising, it is difficult to gain market recognition through technical or sheer volume-based investment alone, making narrative even more critical," the company emphasized. "We recruited directors Jin Seung-ho and Lee Sang-gyun precisely because they possess excellent narrative implementation skills.
It also highlighted that expanding genres was "not intentional," adding: "When reviewing new titles, we apply three criteria: the originality and fun of the concept, market competitiveness, and our in-house development capabilities. The lineup naturally diversified because our directors brought forward persuasive and attractive proposals that met these conditions.
"While managing multiple projects is challenging, game development is inherently difficult regardless of the genre. Round8 believes that allowing directors to pursue concepts for which they have the strongest motivation and capability is a rational choice to increase the probability of success."
Neowiz shadow-dropped Lies of P DLC Overture during last year's Summer Game Fest, introducing new locations, new enemies and bosses, new characters, weapons, and the controversial decision to add in two easier difficulty options. At that time, we also learned that Lies of P had topped 3 million copies sold.
We had a good time with Lies of P, awarding it 8/10, and Overture itself also secured an 8/10. "Even if it’s clearly dancing on the same old strings, Lies of P: Overture is an excellent expansion that adds a whole lot more to a game that was already great," we wrote, although since then, the DLC has been patched to reduce monster difficulty in repeat playthroughs and "adjusted stats" for some of the field monsters you encounter in your first playthrough of Overture.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
