With a focus on story-first games, Neowiz said it will publish the first PC game from South Korea’s indie game developer SaneNuts Studio.
Set in a “Cassette Futuristic” World, the title Wind Up Deadman is a retro pixel-art styled CRPG that weaves a deeply immersive tale of religion, social class and conspiracy.
“Wind Up Deadman meshes branching narratives with a powerful character-building system in a way we haven’t seen in other games, aligning with our story-driven philosophy and making it a perfect addition to our publishing catalog,” said a Neowiz representative, in a statement. “We’ve seen SaneNuts Studio’s ability to grow an IP with their previous work, and we hope our partnership further elevates this new CRPG to a wider, more global audience. Whether it is first-party or third-party, we want to develop titles that push the envelope of modern narrative experiences.”
Wind Up Deadman takes place in a world where survivors of a bio-disaster live in a solitary tower in the desert and rely on cassette tapes to preserve their memories.
Players assume the role of an archive runner named Zephyr, who entrusts his soul to a robot as they track down his lost memories. Erased, implanted and reinterpreted memories dynamically influence the game’s narrative and shape Zephyr’s personality on the hunt to uncover the legacy of the past.
SaneNuts Studio has extensive experience in the RPG genre and a vision of emphasizing the joy of role-playing while offering unique worlds and narrative depth. Their debut mobile title, Metro Blossom: Choice and Dice, was recognized as a Korea Game Award Indie Sector Finalist and placed in the TOP 10 at the 2021 Google Play Indie Game Festival.
The team demonstrated the potential for intellectual property expansion with the publication of the spin-off novel Coffee of the End of the World, set 13 years after the game.
Neowiz continues to secure publishing agreements with some of the most sought-after game development studios in the industry, with highly anticipated games on the way from Wolfeye Studios and Zakazane, and current favorites like Shape of Dreams, Sanabi and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Alongside first-party titles like Lies of P, Neowiz offers a variety of games across PC, console and mobile that resonate with fans of multiple genres.
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