The 7 Studio

At the age of 54, Yao Zhen decided to return to the gaming industry.

He spent a year alone in a small dark room, working quietly until he created a basic technical demo. He then brought it out and invited employees at his company to join the project on a voluntary basis. Eventually, a 10-person team was formed, called Seven Block Studio. In this development team, besides Yao himself, two other members were also programmers over the age of 40.

When they’re busy, they work from 9 a.m. to midnight every day, but Yao doesn’t feel tired. On the contrary, after three decades of coming in and out of the gaming world, he finally feels he’s found a rhythm that suits him.

Readers familiar with the single-player game market around the turn of the century might recognize his name. In 1997, at the age of 28, he developed the RTS game Between Life and Death, which became the first game from mainland China to be showcased at the E3 Expo.

【Screenshots from the game "Between Life and Death" | Courtesy of user @Black meat is not black】

However, the sequel Between Life and Death 2, released three years later, suffered from the impact of piracy and did not sell well. Yao then took a position as a software development director at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a year. In 2002, he returned to the gaming industry to start his own ventures, experimenting with MMORPGs, browser games, and even developing a once-popular casual game called Crazy Neighbors.

By 2013, he had led his company into mobile game development. Titles like Three Kingdoms: One Against a Thousand OL and Special Forces TCG performed well at the time. Eventually, the company went public on the New Third Board in 2016 under the name Beijing One Against a Thousand. During those years, the company also experimented with a smart hardware accessory called oneBoard (Super Keyboard), though it received a lukewarm response.

《One Knight Overwhelms Thousands OL》

The company later ventured into VR games and even developed an offline entertainment installation. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the pandemic dealt a heavy blow to both the VR and offline entertainment industries. On top of that, a freeze on game license approvals in China prevented their in-development titles from being released. Starting in 2019, the company was forced to shift toward software development and gradually drifted away from the gaming industry. In 2021, the company was delisted from the New Third Board.

In 2023, at the age of 54, Yao Zhen decided to return to the gaming world. He launched a new project titled WarOS: Battlefield of the Stars, a single-player RTS game. He refers to it as the "spiritual successor" to the Between Life and Death series. The game entered Early Access in May of this year, and just yesterday (July 20), a “satisfactory version” of the EA build was officially released.

【WarOS】

Game NewZ had a conversation with this 56-year-old game developer, who has personally witnessed the entire evolution of China’s gaming industry. His perspective on today’s industry is notably different. He speaks directly and isn’t afraid to express his opinions.

At a time when few people are still willing to speak candidly, his voice—often diverging from the mainstream—only made us at Game NewZ more eager to keep the conversation going and hear more of his thoughts and insights.

First, he spent a year holed up alone in a small dark room

Game NewZ: Why did you decide to return to the gaming industry after all these years?

Yao Zhen: At this point, I’m more or less in a semi-retired state. Returning to game development is about creating a new product line entirely based on my own skills and thinking—without the pressure of capital or revenue. I started out making single-player RTS games, which were hugely popular back then. But the genre has declined, largely because it hasn’t seen much innovation or evolution over the years. I want to address that.

Ultimately, it comes down to believing in my own ability in this area. I constantly evaluate what I’m best suited to do. Among all fields of software development, game development is still the most technically demanding. I’ve been working with C++ for 30 years now—there’s hardly anyone who can match that. Once, a programmer with 10 years of experience got stuck on an issue for an entire day. I solved it in 10 minutes. That really happened. With 30 years of experience, you can accomplish things with half the effort and twice the result.

Game NewZ: Was there a specific turning point that made you decide to start making games again?

Yao Zhen: Around 2017–2018, we were working on internet products. A friend of mine told me that many users were still playing a game I had developed 20 years ago—and that it was receiving rave reviews. I found that hard to believe.Bottom of Form

【Comments expressing nostalgia and requests for guidance can still be seen in the related video comment sections】

So I took a serious look into the market and found that the single-player game market now (compared to 20 years ago — editor’s note) no longer faces significant piracy threats, and the RTS genre has been stagnating. I wanted to see if I could leverage the decades of experience I’ve accumulated to bring some breakthroughs to this genre.

Game NewZ: So how did you convince your team to get on board with the idea?

Yao Zhen: My approach might be a bit extreme—it's not something everyone can or should try to copy. I’m a programmer, but I also have experience as a producer. I actually started thinking about this project back in 2018, but just as I began to work on it, the pandemic hit. It wasn’t until 2023 that I really started coding.

I spent over a year holed up in a small room and built the entire game engine and framework from scratch, including some of the art assets—all on my own, without using any company resources. Then I brought out this foundation to show the team and asked if anyone was willing to join and take it further.

From there, I gradually turned the technical demo into a gameplay demo, then into a playable build, then into an Early Access version. The next step is the full release. We’ve been following this process step by step. The team naturally grew during this time, and those who believed in the project joined along the way.

Game NewZ: So you had a very clear goal—to make something tangible first in order to convince others?

Yao Zhen: Yes, absolutely. That’s a responsibility I had to take. We didn’t have the money to start game development directly, so if I believed in a direction, I had to invest myself first. If I did it all on my own, the cost was zero. That’s the case for many indie developers today. The key is whether you can push through to that moment—build something real. I’m sure a lot of people give up halfway through; we just don’t hear about them. But many others simply can’t afford to give up.

Game NewZ: Did you ever think about giving up during that year in the “black room”?

Yao Zhen: Actually, no. I never felt like quitting. This kind of project requires a solid foundation of skills—and a bit of luck. I had a smooth run overall, without major setbacks or distractions, so I had the chance to grind through it step by step.

Over these two-plus years of development, I’ve become more and more certain about this direction. It feels like a lot of things were just meant to be. Every time I needed something, it turned out to exist.

For example, with today’s AI technology, generating images, animations, and 3D models has become incredibly simple. When we made games in the past, we didn’t have this kind of tech. Even when I started WarOS, AI tools weren’t mature yet—if I’d started five months earlier, it would’ve been too soon. Now, we’re using AI to reduce both the cost and workload in art production.

And when it came to building the tech engine—especially since it’s a 3D game—that’s a huge workload. If you put all your time into just the rendering engine, it’s not worth it. So I needed the support of an open-source engine. Right at that time, Godot released its 4.0 version—almost exactly one month after I began work on WarOS. It felt like it was made just for me.

【Godot engine】

When I first started thinking about doing this project, Black Myth: Wukong hadn’t even been announced yet. It wasn’t until about a year later that I saw it suddenly blow up, and the entire market got excited again. Recently, a wave of similar titles has emerged in China, which shows that a lot of people had already been working on projects like this long before the hype.

Game NewZ: After being away from the industry for so long, do you ever worry that your understanding of game design might be outdated?

Yao Zhen: I do, honestly. That’s one of the things I’m concerned could potentially lead to the game’s failure. But there are also a few things that have helped ease that concern.

First of all, from a technical perspective, we’re solid. Our technical foundation is still very strong—we’ve actually rebuilt an engine on top of Godot ourselves.

Second, in terms of development cost, RTS games are relatively manageable. You just need to reach a certain quality threshold, and that’s enough.

The final question is whether our design philosophy still resonates with today’s players. Interestingly, we received an email from a father overseas saying his 10-year-old son really loves our game and wanted to know when it would be released. He even asked how they could support us. Some of my friends’ kids also showed interest. So I realized that some of the younger generation—those not yet heavily influenced by the internet—actually respond very positively to our game.

On the other hand, players who grew up with online and mobile games tend to have a harder time adapting to it. They’re used to “fast food,” and a “full-course meal” might feel like too much effort. But we’re not giving up on this group of players. We’re gradually tweaking things to better meet their expectations.

Then there’s the group of traditional RTS players. Back in the day, most RTS games weren’t in 3D. Now with the transition to 3D, many controls have changed. To help them adapt, we’ve added customizable key bindings. Over time, they’re getting more comfortable with it.

So right now, we’re focused on aligning the game’s core performance indicators with user expectations. In the future, we’ll keep digging deeper into the potential of this framework, aiming to create an RTS that has a true indie spirit. I think that’s a really meaningful goal.

Game NewZ: So you're saying that you're confident in the core gameplay—it’s just the surrounding elements that might still need work?

Yao Zhen: Exactly. So far, I haven’t received a single piece of feedback saying the core gameplay is the problem. And honestly, that’s the kind of feedback I fear the most.

【Comments from veteran players】

Many of my friends in the industry—some are executives at game companies, others are producers—have played my Between Life and Death series at some point. When I started this new project, they were all initially very interested. But after trying it out, they became quite concerned about whether the details of production and user adaptation would reach a satisfactory level. Some even came directly to me with very strong feedback.

My approach back then was actually quite simple: if the core of the game isn’t accepted by users, then no matter how much you dress it up on the outside, they won’t accept it either. That’s why I released the game early (with an Early Access version)—to see if there were any major issues with the core. Our design has gone beyond the traditional RTS framework—for example, we’ve added a lot of RPG elements, including upgradeable items and a quest system; we also introduced FPS-style projectile blocking, which goes against conventional RTS design. If a large portion of users thought this framework was wrong, it would be fatal for the product.

So far, the feedback we’ve received is about controls being unfamiliar, the UI not polished enough, and localization errors pointed out by overseas users. I think that’s great—because they obviously recognize the core creativity of the game and that’s why they bring up these issues. As long as players acknowledge the creative value, the peripheral issues can be gradually resolved with time and investment. A game like this has life, and if we can develop a new framework based on it, its value will be even greater.

Game NewZ: Compared to your previous game development experience, does the process of communicating with users and confirming core ideas feel different?

Yao Zhen: When I made single-player games in the early days, this kind of interaction didn’t exist. The internet wasn’t developed back then, so communication with users was mostly through letters. Also, the technology wasn’t strong—many teams couldn’t even finish making a game. Between Life and Death had solid quality, stable technology, and a lot of creativity, so it quickly broke out. Back then, it wasn’t about improving quality through user communication; just doing your own thing well was enough.

But things are different now—games can basically all be made. Now it’s essential to have close ties with users. As long as users recognize your game’s originality, you have value.

Actually, our approach for browser games and mobile games has been similar. Our Supreme was one of China’s earliest martial arts MMORPGs; Jianxia Qingyuan Web stood out in the browser game market; later Three Kingdoms: One Against a Thousand brought ideas from the single-player Heroes of the Three Kingdoms into mobile games. I’ve always wanted to innovate from the game itself—at least innovate within a given market.

Today’s single-player game market places even more emphasis on innovation. Without innovation, there’s no chance. It wasn’t always like this.

Game NewZ: If there was innovation back then, why wasn’t the commercial success ideal? Did the team ever reflect on this?

Yao Zhen: I’ve thought about this a lot.

Most service-based commercial games are free to users, aiming to “break out” within six months to succeed. This leads to a vicious cycle of over-commercialization, where game quality is sacrificed to meet users’ paying demands. Once the product exhausts its user base, it has to monetize them quickly within six months or become outdated.

Single-player games, on the other hand, operate on a buy-to-own model. Users who haven’t bought the game are always potential future users. If you don’t exhaust this pool, they might become customers in three, four, or even ten years. Buy-to-own games don’t really go “out of style.” Many products from decades ago still sell well today. The team can improve product quality over several years, gradually winning over users.

I believe this “slow game” approach suits original teams like ours who want to focus on the essence of games.

Game NewZ: So you think your team made some trade-offs between commercialization potential and game innovation?

Yao Zhen: Our team size and core user base can’t compete with large companies. If we’re not willing to aggressively embed monetization hooks in the game, the buy-to-own market suits us better. Different games fit different creators.

That’s why our early single-player games ranked first or second in the industry, but later MMORPGs, browser games, and mobile games could only be second- or third-tier products. We’d rather return to buy-to-own RTS games and do what suits us best—I believe we can still reach the top.

Game NewZ: So after exploring browser and mobile games for over a decade, you realized the team wasn’t really suited for those types?

Yao Zhen: Yes, I think this is a common issue. Many early buy-to-own game developers aren’t a good fit for the online game market.

But I’ve seen the buy-to-own market continue growing for many years, and I think the timing might be right for us again. So at an age when most people retire, we’re making a buy-to-own game to fulfill a dream. I believe Between Life and Death 2 was cut short by piracy, but now the environment is better, and we can try the market again.

Besides, I think game development can be a lifelong career for a producer because it’s not a physical job—spiritually, it becomes richer and more enjoyable over time.

This might be a kind of ability

Game NewZ: Engines like Unity and Unreal are already very mature and widely used by many game companies. So why do you insist on developing your own semi-open-source engine?

Yao Zhen: RTS games are very demanding when it comes to CPU computational efficiency. If efficiency is compromised, the core creativity of the game will be limited. That’s why companies making RTS games usually develop their own engines. Open-source engines often lack support in certain areas, so you have to add one or two low-level technologies to meet your goals.

My game is also quite special—the space theme involves ship-to-ship collisions, ship-to-island collisions, and unit pathfinding on islands, which makes it very different from typical RTS games.

Game NewZ: Have you encountered any particularly time-consuming challenges while developing the engine?

Yao Zhen: The longest I’ve spent solving a technical problem is less than a week. Maybe that’s also a kind of ability.

Godot is already the best open-source engine available, but aspects like pathfinding, physics collisions, and spatial movement computations don’t meet my requirements. So I have to deeply modify it. Honestly, about 90% of game development teams wouldn’t be able to do this.

Game NewZ: Many programmers experience “35-year-old anxiety,” worrying they can’t keep up with tech updates. Why don’t you seem to have this kind of concern?

Yao Zhen: This probably isn’t about programming skills. If you’re proficient with a low-level language like C++, you can easily understand the core technologies behind any game. For me, the only tool I needed to learn recently was Blender. Having worked in game development for so many years, and continuously providing technical support for my company, I’ve never let go of the fundamentals. So I haven’t felt many obstacles.

Game NewZ: There’s a realistic question—at an age close to retirement, can you still keep up physically to make a new game?

Yao Zhen: Recently, we’ve been working from around 9 or 10 in the morning until 11 or 12 at night, and we don’t really feel overly tired. Sure, it can be a bit exhausting, but the rewards outweigh the effort, so overall it’s enjoyable.

Our team is small, and everyone who’s working on this is mentally prepared. We even have team members who have worked together for over 20 years. There are 10 people in R&D in total; I’m 56, two others are in their 40s, and we also have younger members, including three fresh graduates with master’s degrees.

【A corner of the studio】

【The puppy "Meimei" is the studio's mascot and accompanies everyone to work every day】

Our team might grow bigger in the future—already some members joined not through recruitment, but because they recognized and were attracted by our product. I believe more people like this will join the team going forward.

Game NewZ: With a team of 10, the expenses seem easier to manage. Can the company sustain itself on income from your internet software business?

Yao Zhen: I think we are slowly reaching a breakeven point. Hopefully, in the future, we won’t need to be distracted by other things and can continue development relying on income from WarOS. Making big money isn’t our goal—doing a great job on this product is. After releasing it, we plan to keep investing and optimizing for at least two more years.

If I want to create a new sub-genre framework, I don’t mind investing another ten years. If we can build a very distinctive RTS sub-genre, I’ll consider it a success. Measuring this by money doesn’t make sense. As long as we keep refining the product, everyone’s confidence grows.

In this industry, some people chase a monthly revenue of a hundred million yuan, but there have to be those who aim simply to make something truly good. Among the millions working in games, surely I can find 100 people to do this, right? Of course there are.

Game NewZ: During development, have the young team members offered suggestions or perspectives you hadn’t considered?

Yao Zhen: Mainly in how they understand games, which differs from our past. We used to plant crops on a very barren plain—more casual and instinctive, playing whatever was available. Now, a lot of people have been “brainwashed,” with their game preferences locked into one or two genres, a more fixed mindset. But they have stronger key skills and professional abilities—there’s give and take.

Game NewZ: Theoretically, young people today have access to many more types of games, so why do you think their mindset is more narrow?

Yao Zhen: In terms of game diversity, the golden era was 20 or 30 years ago. Now the variety of games is much less—at least ten times fewer. For example, Bullfrog Productions (known for Populous, Syndicate, Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper) rarely made repetitive products; after finishing one game, they’d immediately start a completely different type of game. Nowadays, including myself, companies tend to focus vertically on a single game type. That’s a big difference.

The result is strong convergence—once one company succeeds, others follow. For example, after Black Myth: Wukong launched, many sudden investments poured into AAA game development, but many truly innovative teams got drowned out. Thirty years ago, if you made something just like others, you’d lose face. Now, after a Black Myth comes out, many say, “I want to make something better but just like Black Myth.” So the game industry isn’t nearly as diverse as before.

Once the market converges, only those with the ability can succeed, but they’re influenced by capital and must commercialize. Ninety-nine percent of investors or bosses immediately demand a certain revenue target; maybe only one percent say, “Just make the game amazing.” There’s no way around it—game development requires a lot of money, so excessive capital interference is inevitable.

We don’t have the funds to develop a game entirely on our own. But after many years in the industry, we’ll occasionally meet that extreme one-percent opportunity. At least what we have now isn’t a standard investment where everyone’s just after their cut.

Game NewZ: So what is the investor’s goal?

Yao Zhen: It’s hard to say—some just want to cooperate with me. (laughs)

After Thirty Years, Finally Finding the Ideal State

Game NewZ: After completing Life and Death 2, you left the game industry and worked at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a year. At that time, had you already decided to leave the game industry?

Yao Zhen: Yes. It wasn’t just about Life and Death 2—the entire game market was hit hard by piracy.

Game NewZ: When you made Life and Death back then, it was probably all self-exploration without much reference or experience to rely on.

Yao Zhen: Everyone was exploring back then. We didn’t even have the concept of game engines; everything was implemented using original code. Even something as simple as pathfinding had to be done from scratch. Now, there are so many tools and much technical knowledge shared that programmers don’t have to study as much.

Game NewZ: Making your own engine for WarOS if no suitable one exists seems like a mindset only someone who lived through those early exploratory days would have.

Yao Zhen: That’s right. If you use Unity or Unreal to make a game like WarOS today, you might compromise on design to solve problems, which leads to a more mediocre product. Using Godot (no need to compromise) is easier but risks getting completely stuck. Back in the Life and Death days, running into a problem was fatal—there was no chance to compromise.

Game NewZ: Apart from programming, what about other areas like art? Do you outsource?

Yao Zhen: Yes, art is outsourced mainly to American studios. We cooperate with about a dozen teams who have a better grasp of the sci-fi theme than we do. We first produce the technical prototype with clear specifications, making it easy to coordinate with outsourcing. Unlike many companies that set up art teams from the start but keep changing specs during development, we keep things stable.

(Some art concept designs)

Nowadays, we only pay for outsourced work once the quality meets our standards. When we were making mobile games before, some outsourcing partners delivered good quality for the first few assets, but the rest turned out to be rubbish. There was nothing I could do—I just had to accept the loss because the contract covered the entire product. At one point, a company even sued us because they provided poor-quality work that we couldn’t accept, and we ended up losing the case. Having suffered those losses, we learned our lesson.

Now, because we need to control overall costs, we can’t afford very expensive outsourcing. So, the quality of the art might be the biggest area for improvement in our game going forward. My plan is to stabilize the game’s technology and specifications first, then gradually improve the art quality layer by layer—unlike many companies that try to make a flawless product upfront and then gamble on a big release.

My goal is to make this product a high-quality single-player game. As long as the team stays intact, it’s only a matter of time—even if it takes ten years. Ideally, I hope to achieve this in one or two years.

Game NewZ: Are the writing and story tasks handled by team members?

Yao Zhen: We have two graduate students from the Central Academy of Drama on the team who specialize in scriptwriting. We also want to try applying film storytelling techniques to RTS games to give the game a compelling narrative.

So far, the story rates about a 7 out of 10, which I think is pretty good, because I don’t expect the game to rely heavily on the plot. But the story does have some pull—we have a player who has played for 100 hours and reached level 17, averaging over 5 hours per level. If they weren’t invested in the story, they probably would have given up a long time ago.

These two graduate students especially want to transition from film and television to gaming because they believe there are greater opportunities in games right now. Graduates from the Central Academy of Drama usually find jobs easily at big companies, but they joined our project out of genuine interest. We also plan to collaborate with universities like the Central Academy of Drama in the future to explore how game development can integrate with their specialized knowledge. Right now, these two scripts are experimental attempts, and later we might try involving stage design professionals for scene creation.

Game NewZ: I remember before the company was forced to pivot to software products, there were still quite a few people in the team?

Yao Zhen: Yes, we lost many people. From over 150 employees, only a dozen or so remained. Those who stayed still wanted to do something together because we believed there was still a chance.

Game NewZ: That chance isn’t necessarily a game?

Yao Zhen: Correct. It’s just that this game happened to present a significant opportunity. I’ve never promised anything about the product’s success, although naturally I do care. What we can do is keep improving the game steadily. As long as we keep improving, it will get better and better.

Game NewZ: Do you worry that this process of improving the game might lag behind market changes?

Yao Zhen: It doesn’t seem like it. I discussed this with a friend in the industry, and we feel users today aren’t as picky as before; many have become accustomed to existing rules. In this situation, as long as the game’s core has exciting original elements, users will accept it.

Game NewZ: What’s the approximate age demographic of players who currently appreciate WarOS?

Yao Zhen: I think mostly college students. Besides a liking for martial arts culture, young people are increasingly sensitive to futuristic sci-fi. They also tend to prefer RPGs and MOBAs. WarOS incorporates RPG-style quest systems and item rules, MOBA-style tower capture mechanics, plus a storyline and bosses—these new flavors differ from traditional RTS. It’s a cautious experiment.

Our biggest criticism so far is about controls—players feel the gameplay differs too much from classic RTS. But that criticism is fading as players adapt, and we also added customizable key bindings. Regarding difficulty, I originally made Life and Death quite hard; we’ve softened it somewhat now because today’s users are different. But it won’t be made too easy. Like Elden Ring, which is very difficult but never criticized for it.

Game NewZ: What proportion of your users are overseas?

Yao Zhen: About 70%, and it’s roughly the same in the full release. To succeed globally, it’s not enough for foreign players to just appreciate the culture; they also need to recognize the core creativity. That’s where Chinese game companies gain greater value.

Comment from an international user: A game with enormous potential

When China’s gaming industry was first established, it suddenly faced the impact of the internet. However, the industry hadn’t yet deeply developed its core game content and essence. As a result, on one hand, piracy was rampant; on the other hand, the entire commercial model and design thinking were disrupted, shifting toward internet product design and commercialization, drifting away from the true essence of gaming. This has led to an overabundance of homogenized products.

Consequently, in the global gaming environment, although everyone knows Chinese games make a lot of money and have strong teams, they haven’t gained much respect, especially from foreign game developers. In their eyes, it’s just good commercialization, not good at the core essence of games. This is something we need to reflect on.

Game Insight: You mentioned the company is currently maintaining a break-even status. What are your expectations for the returns from WarOS?

Yao Zhen: Our current principle is operational: all revenue goes back into costs. As long as it can support us to continue developing WarOS, that’s enough; we don’t expect profits. We are sustaining ourselves through software business for survival. Once the game is closer to ideal, we can gradually attract more idealistic people.

I believe the only stable path to success is to keep optimizing this one product and not give up on it to make a sequel. If this buy-to-own RTS market doesn’t work out, we’ll just lie low (laughs). Fortunately, the market itself is sound.

Game Insight: Do you have a specific target for player numbers?

Yao Zhen: About 100,000 players annually, with a lifecycle possibly lasting over 10 years.

Game Insight: Do you have ideas for the next project?

Yao Zhen: That depends on conditions. First, there must be the right inspiration and opportunity, plus investment and team growth, and a continuation of the genre framework. It’s something that will happen naturally. Right now, I want to focus on making WarOS well-rounded — that’s the real commercial model for games.

Game Insight: You’ve experienced the early single-player era, worked at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed online games, browser games, mobile games, tried VR games and hardware, then moved into software business, and now you’re working on WarOS. Which part of your career or which project did you enjoy the most?

Yao Zhen: Honestly, there isn’t one I like the most, because every phase came with its pains.

Making single-player games was exhausting, and once released, piracy was rampant. I went to markets in Zhongguancun and saw my games on shelves selling for just 10 yuan a copy — not a great experience.

The online game experience wasn’t good either. We accepted investment too early — a few million yuan locked us in, whereas those who raised funds a year later got tens of millions. We simply couldn’t compete. Browser games had a decent run, but the hype cycle was short, and they quickly faded. Mobile games had early success but soon overinflated and declined.

So probably the best experience was in the past year or two, when I was writing code myself — no distractions, no commercialization worries, just focusing on making the product good. Aside from childhood, that’s been my best experience.

Game Insight: It took you over 30 years to find an ideal state.

Yao Zhen: Yes. The early single-player market was directly disrupted by the chaotic competition brought by the internet industry. To put it bluntly, the market development was out of your control — it felt like drifting downstream, carried by a strong current. At first, it was exciting, but then it became dangerous.

I think this is not something I should be doing at my current age, nor is it what should be done in the single-player RTS market. So I strongly oppose over-commercialization. I don’t take commercial success as a goal, nor do I set this as a target for the team or investors.

From my analysis, the cost of making single-player RTS games isn’t very high. There’s no need to pursue AAA. AAA games are like blockbuster movies — only a few get played at certain times, and if the costs exceed budget, they can’t be recouped. The kind of deep, generational craftsmanship that Black Myth: Wukong demonstrates is something 99% of companies can’t achieve. So chasing trends in the single-player market is, in my opinion, a mistake.