Co-CEO of Lies of P developer Neowiz Sean Kim said the South Korean government is helping the country's indie scene.
Conversation with knowledgeAccording to the head, the number of independent developers in the region has increased. Kim also said that there are a number of large companies willing to publish games from this segment of the industry, adding that funding has become “more conservative” in recent years.
“The government is helping to grow a lot of independent developers,” he said.
“There are a lot of indie studios emerging, especially from young, talented developers in Korea. Many medium and large Korean publishers are also eyeing the indie scene, while gradually shifting their focus to the PC and console space. Because when it comes to the mobile gaming market, it's becoming saturated.
“Funding has become much more conservative compared to previous years, especially from venture capitalists. It’s really difficult to raise funding unless it’s a very big and ambitious project.”
Shifting its focus away from mobile and online gaming, Neowiz's future lies in premium single-player gaming for consoles and PC. Kim says the firm's strategy is multi-pronged, with its future lineup including both its own games (like the upcoming Lies of P sequel) and external projects from companies like Wolfeye Studios and Zakazane Studio.
“In-house studios are very vulnerable to change, so we work with multiple teams on multiple projects,” Kim explained. “Because we need to publish at least two games every year, we try to collaborate as often as possible with external studios like Wolfeye and Zakazane, who have a lot of creative talent and vision that matches our strategy.”
Kim added that Neowiz is looking to further partner with foreign companies: “Today we see a lot of great developers emerging in China, so we are trying to focus on that region as well.”
Neowiz invested $17 million in Polish developer Blank Game Studios back in 2023. This happened before. signs an $8 million publishing deal with Polish studio Zakazane in November 2024 and will enter into a publishing partnership with WolfEye in early 2025. The company later signed a deal with Shanghai developer Shadowlight for its debut game, Kill the Shadow..
Lies of P has attracted more than seven million players since its release in September 2023, it has sold over three million copies.
