It’s officially 2026, and as we all shift our brain’s gears toward the games to come, I had the opportunity to speak with Neowiz, the publisher behind Lies of P, to discuss the past year. In the email Q&A below, Neowiz co-CEO Sean Kim (pictured above) and I discuss the publisher’s 2025, last year’s Overture expansion for Lies of P, how the publisher charts its release course, generative AI, and more.
And don’t worry: I asked about the in-development Lies of P sequel.
Below, you can find the full email Q&A between Kim and I:
An Interview With Neowiz Co-CEO Sean Kim
Game Informer’s Wesley LeBlanc: How would you describe Neowiz’s 2025? Were there any particular standout moments or surprises for Neowiz, or did it feel like a year of consistency?
Neowiz co-CEO Sean Kim: Late last year, we did have some concerns; however, the year ultimately delivered results that exceeded our expectations. As a co-CEO of a public company, there is a clear responsibility to achieve a certain level of financial performance each year. We knew that we had developed something new and extraordinary with Lies of P, but forecasting its financial performance was something of a challenge. We bet heavily on the remarkable skill and passion of our development and publishing teams, and it paid off. Lies of P sales and sentiment numbers were very strong.
Overture also had a material impact on the base game numbers, bringing in a wave of new players and expanding the community in untold ways. In that sense, the release was particularly significant, as it solidified the foundation of an emerging pillar franchise for us moving forward.
Winning the Golden Joystick and the Lenovo 3D Juego awards in a stacked field of competitors this year was an added bonus. Having the game acclaimed by players and critics alike made the experience as personally gratifying as it was financially fruitful.
I think, because of the success of Lies of P, Neowiz is most closely associated with that series now. But what else is Neowiz up to beyond Lies of P?
Our goal is to consistently introduce successful IP that fans will continue to support and look forward to over the long haul, even five or ten years down the line.
Currently, we are internally developing more than five new PC and console titles, while also focusing on discovering global IP through collaborations with Western studios such as Zakazane and Wolfeye. We plan to continue investing in strong partners worldwide as we move forward.
Our lineup of third-party indie titles, many of them developed by talented local Korean teams, is also worth highlighting. In particular, Shape of Dreams and SANABI recently achieved both critical and commercial success.
Neowiz recently shared word of five unannounced games in development, ranging from Lies of P’s sequel to a narrative-based RPG to life simulation and more – how does Neowiz chart its path forward, and does genre play a role?
Our core strategy is to expand the size of our fanbase and deepen engagement among players who enjoy our games. We like to define IP as “content + fans.” No matter how much effort goes into making great content, we believe it is difficult to call a game “great” if it fails to satisfy its fans.
We don’t set out to pursue a wide range of genres as a matter of strategic direction; rather, we’re circumspect about what we currently have and opportunistic about what we could execute well. Of course, the Lies of P franchise will need to be continued. That’s a given. But in general, our development cycle does not begin with a particular genre. Instead, it starts with the creative vision of our directors. We tend not to begin development by fixating on a play style or game concept first.
Instead, we evaluate proposals from our directors based on a few key criteria. First, is the genre attractive, considering the current market size and competitive landscape? Next, are we able to assemble a solid team that can deliver the project at a high level of quality? Finally, is there a long-term strategy for growing the game’s fanbase and engagement?
We regularly revisit our ongoing projects using these same criteria to make sure that they stay aligned with our strategy, which is centered on both content and fans.
Can you tell me anything about the Lies of P sequel?
At this point, there is nothing specific we can share in detail. I can tell you that the team at Round8 Studio is excited about their work and fully focused on development.
With the Lies of P DLC receiving further recognition through its various award wins and director Choi Ji-Won expressing strong confidence in the studio’s next project, we hope fans will continue to look forward to what’s ahead as much as we are.
How do Neowiz and Round8 feel about Overture’s release earlier this year?
We are grateful to see that players around the world have responded so positively to our vision and work product. It was a watershed moment, adding clear insight into the importance and potential of Neowiz’s franchise-driven IP strategy, while also practicing what it takes operationally to deliver solid results in the global market.
For Round8 Studio, the success of Overture was especially validating, as it clearly demonstrated the competitiveness of the Lies of P IP on the worldwide stage, while recognizing the creativity, dedication, and ambition shown by the entire development team.
Neowiz is publishing two third-party games – one for Wolfeye and one for Zakazane. What does Neowiz look for in third-party partners, and what stood out about these studios and what they’re working on?
We first look at a game’s vision and potential, as well as the team’s experience and capabilities. It’s about making sure we’re the publisher that can truly elevate them. For us, partnering isn’t solely about discovering strong projects.
At the same time, we try to understand whether a prospective team has a long-term plan to grow their game’s fanbase and build an IP at scale. If a game shows promise but falls outside of areas where we can add value, we’d rather guide the developers toward someone who can do the best job with them. Ultimately, our priority is seeing creators succeed, because the games themselves are what matter most.
In the case of Wolfeye, we saw the potential for the rich and compelling worlds they are building to grow into a franchise IP with us. Similarly, our publishing partnership with Zakazane was driven by our confidence that their strong narrative foundation would allow them to expand the current project into sequels with our support.
When you, as a publishing lead, look at 2025, what do you think defines gaming this year? Any surprises? Any disappointments?
For 2025, our focus was to continue to create high-quality projects and solidify Neowiz’s position in the global PC and console market. As we’ve reached the end of the year, it’s felt like the start of a new era of gaming. Smaller teams are achieving strong results, including our publishing relationship with Lizard Smoothie. The release of their debut title, Shape of Dreams, sold 500,000 copies in its first month, and the team is still dedicated to delivering the best experience for their community. We look to take these successes and expand our publishing efforts in narrative-driven game development with developers from around the world.
Editor’s Note: After publication, Neowiz reached out to correct Kim’s quote that says Shape of Dreams sold 500,000 copies in its first month – it actually sold 500,000 copies within its first two weeks.
Generative AI is a hot topic this year, with some studios/publishers getting behind it and others staying away from it. Does generative AI have a place within Neowiz’s publishing house, and how does it work with developers?
Korea is reportedly one of the countries where ChatGPT is used most actively. It’s hard to find a game company here today that isn’t using AI in some way. At the very least, companies are using either ChatGPT or Gemini.
For us, like any forward-thinking technology company, we are actively exploring how advanced learning tools can enhance our internal publishing productivity. Our primary focus is on research and development to automate routine operational tasks, such as test case processing and analyzing large volumes of operational data.
AI utilization can also enable our expert teams to work faster and focus their energy on refining core strategies with our partners to maximize player engagement. By processing data faster, our teams will arrive at better, more informed strategic decisions on how best to support our developers and engage with our community.
South Korea, in particular, is becoming more and more of a major player in game development/publishing. Mobile is a big part of the market there, but I’ve spoken to enough devs there to learn that there seems to be a push to consoles/PCs and triple-A projects – do you agree, and if so, why do you think this is?
That does seem to be the case. Given the current landscape, it’s understandable that leadership teams would see PC and console as important areas for future growth. Competition in the mobile market has become increasingly intense, and a number of traditionally mobile-focused companies are clearly looking to pivot toward PC and console development. We’re already seeing studios in that space begin to show results.
How are Neowiz’s mobile offerings doing in relation to its console/PC releases?
We are actively operating live-service mobile games that are well-received by players worldwide. We still view our mobile business as an important pillar of our company. We found that our cozy games resonate with Western consumers, with titles like Cats & Soup. In particular, Cats & Soup celebrated its fourth anniversary in August and recorded over 60 million downloads of the game last year. We also expanded the IP with the launch of Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe this April, which was developed by the original team.
Anything else I missed or didn’t ask about you’d like to discuss?
Not only does Neowiz have a Korean team with direct experience in the global success of Lies of P, but it also has a strong global publishing team across North America and Europe. With this foundation, we look forward to meeting great teams around the world and building long-term partnerships.
This email Q&A took place in December of 2025.