As AAA video games get increasingly expensive and complex to make, we’ve seen some breakout successes take the world by storm. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 just blew the doors off the industry, starting discussions about small teams and development costs. And in 2024, the Pinochio-inspired Lies of P lit fire to the Soulslike, rivaling anything FromSoftware has done with the genre it created.
Lies of P may have inexplicably changed Soulslikes forever, but it also brought seismic changes to both the studio that made it, Round 8, and its publisher, Neowiz — so much so that it’s changed the company’s entire approach to making games. A sequel is currently in development, and there could be more on the way.
