Round8 Studio

Round8 Studio is a South Korean video game developer based in Gyeonggi Province and a subsidiary of Neowiz. Founded in 2019, the studio was built specifically to develop high-end console and PC games, which is a deliberate contrast to the mobile-focused direction of most Korean game studios at the time. Their name comes from boxing, representing the idea of fighting through to the end without giving up. In a short period of time they went from reviving a failed MMORPG to releasing one of the most acclaimed soulslike games in recent memory.

Round8 Studio’s Origin Story

How the Studio Came Together

Round8 Studio was established in 2019 under Neowiz as a dedicated console and PC development team led by Seongjun Park. Its predecessor was Red Duck, formerly known as Entix Soft, a mid-sized Korean developer behind games like Yogurting and AVA. After Red Duck’s corporation went bankrupt, Neowiz, the majority shareholder, folded the team into a new structure that eventually became Round8 Studio. Many of the team members brought significant action RPG experience with them, including work on titles like Lost Ark and Monster Hunter World. The studio’s director Choi Ji-won came to Round8 with fifteen years of development experience, having directed the combat system in Lost Ark.

Why Round8 Matters for Korean Gaming

The Korean gaming market has historically been dominated by mobile games and PC MMORPGs built around microtransactions. Round8 and Neowiz saw Lies of P as an opportunity to diversify their own portfolios and demonstrate that Korean studios could compete in the global console market. Alongside Shift Up, the studio behind Stellar Blade, Round8 is now considered one of the two major console game developers to emerge from South Korea in recent years.

Round8 Studio Games

Bless Unleashed (2020)

Bless Unleashed was Round8’s first project, a free-to-play MMORPG built around reviving the Bless IP, a franchise that had previously failed under Neowiz. The game launched on Xbox One in 2020 and came to PC via Steam in 2021. It was not a massive commercial hit but it served its purpose, keeping the studio funded and operational while the team pivoted toward their next project. Reviving a failed IP is not a glamorous first assignment but Round8 delivered something playable, which is more than the original Bless Online managed.

Lies of P (2023)

Lies of P is the game that put Round8 on the map internationally. A soulslike action RPG set in a steampunk reimagining of Pinocchio’s story, the game takes place in the fictional Belle Epoque city of Krat, overrun by homicidal puppets and plagued by epidemic and conspiracy. Development started around 2020 with a team of 60 people that grew to 100 by release. The game was announced in May 2021 and won three awards at Gamescom before it was even out. It launched on September 19, 2023 and was immediately recognized as one of the best soulslikes outside of FromSoftware’s own catalog. A sequel is in development, reportedly featuring Dorothy from the Oz novels as the main character.

I am not a soulslike player. The genre’s lack of difficulty options and the inability to pause have kept me away from it entirely. Lies of P was the exception. Something about the premise and the setting made me give it a shot and it holds up even for someone coming in skeptical of the genre. Round8 built something accessible enough to pull in players who would normally never touch a soulslike, which is a harder design achievement than it sounds.

Lies of P: Overture

Overture is a DLC expansion for Lies of P that expands the story of Krat. It continues the pattern of Round8 supporting their games with substantial content updates rather than abandoning them post-launch.

What’s Next for Round8 Studio

A Lies of P sequel is confirmed and in development. Separately, there are reports that Round8 is working on a sci-fi survival horror game, which would represent a significant genre shift from the gothic steampunk of Lies of P. Neowiz has been aggressively recruiting talent into Round8 since Lies of P’s success, with the studio building out multiple development teams working simultaneously on different projects. They earned their name.