Neowiz ROUND 8 Studio’s “Lies of P: Prelude,” developed by ROUND 8 Studio, has swept major domestic and international game awards, once again demonstrating the development capabilities of ROUND 8 Studio. Although released as an expansion pack following the main game, it has received high praise across narrative and technical completeness, and is assessed to be continuing to achieve meaningful results in the global market.



Lies of P, with its DLC, responds to both global critics and fandom

“Lies of P,” developed by Neowiz ROUND 8 Studio, has been in the spotlight as a leading Korean console action game.

It rose to fame as the first Korean title to win three awards at Gamescom, and at the 2023 Korea Game Awards it secured three Technology & Creativity Awards (Planning/Scenario, Sound, and Graphics), along with the Popular Game Award, Outstanding Developer Award, and ultimately the Grand Prize, solidifying its status as Korea’s top game at the time.

The same excellence has been proven again with the subsequent DLC. The DLC “Lies of P: Prelude” (hereinafter Prelude) won “Best Game Expansion” at the globally prestigious Golden Joystick Awards, and was also selected as “Expansion of the Year” by PlayStation, “Best Expansion” at the Flow Game Awards, and “Best Expansion” in Sony’s “PS Blog Game of the Year 2025.”

In Korea, it simultaneously received the Excellence Award and the Technology & Creativity Award (Character category) at the Korea Game Awards. Overseas media outlet GamesRadar+ selected “Prelude” as “Best Expansion of 2025,” while GameSpot also included “Prelude” in its “Best Games of 2025” list.



The driving force behind the awards is maximized technical perfection… “Real people brought to life”

“Lies of P: Prelude” demonstrates a more sophisticated level of completeness across direction, animation, and combat, maintaining a higher evaluation than the base game, with a score of 85 on Metacritic. On OpenCritic, it achieved a 100% critic recommendation rate.

According to the ROUND 8 Studio development team, the focus was on conveying situations, emotions, and narrative without relying on cutscenes or dialogue. They aimed to implement “non-verbal narrative,” naturally infusing narrative meaning into various in-game elements such as lighting, music, and sound. To achieve this, the team conducted repeated internal tests and experiments. The intent was to design details so that the worldview and emotions are conveyed naturally to players, even without conscious awareness.

The ROUND 8 development team did not stop there. Character implementation also centered on creating “people who could plausibly exist in this world.” The team revealed that they began with the question, “If Lies of P were a film, which actors would be cast?” and then meticulously designed each character’s backstory and personality.

Within this direction of emphasizing each character’s imperfections and individuality, close collaboration among multiple departments—direction, motion, lighting, and dialogue—added depth to the characters. This approach led to winning the Technology & Creativity Award (Character category), formally recognizing the achievements in character direction and completeness.

The combat design process of ROUND 8 Studio also drew attention. The development team structurally designed the overall game flow and tension, then experimented with various combat concepts, repeatedly revising or discarding elements that did not meet expectations. Through this persistent process of fine-tuning, Prelude has once again received high praise and become the latest title to garner acclaim.



The secret of ROUND 8 Studio’s success is “Three Kings”: maximizing completeness

Another factor behind the success of Prelude is analyzed to be ROUND 8 Studio’s unique motto: “Three Kings (Quality, Ownership, Dialogue is King).” This approach respects each developer’s judgment and responsibility, and enhances completeness through candid communication.

This culture establishes an environment where anyone can propose opinions and debate based on the quality of the work, rather than hierarchical decision-making. It is known to have originated from the belief that accumulated experience and culture become assets for subsequent projects.

Team NOUGH, which developed “Lies of P” and “Prelude,” is regarded within Neowiz as the organization that most intensely realizes this approach. During the development of “Prelude,” the task force in charge of refining the early gameplay experience immediately reflected as many as 295 pieces of feedback from the director, a process that reportedly became an opportunity for the entire team to share a sense of accomplishment.

A ROUND 8 Studio representative stated, “The series of awards for Prelude is seen as a global recognition of ROUND 8 Studio’s development philosophy and pursuit of perfection,” adding, “We will continue to expand the value of the IP and take on challenges to provide meaningful experiences to global users.”

Meanwhile, ROUND 8 Studio plans to carry forward the development philosophy proven through “Prelude” in its upcoming projects currently in preparation, and to continually present Neowiz’s unique form of fun to the global market.

Dong-A.com Game News Reporter Cho Hak-dong igelau@itdonga.com

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