If you haven’t yet managed to see the trailer for the title, Lost Soul Aside, before reading any further, do yourself the favour of doing so:
A few weeks ago, Korean indie developer, Yang Bing, made some waves in the gaming industry when he released the trailer for the game he has been working on using Unreal Engine 4. The game is inspired by other great titles such as Final Fantasy XV, when he first saw the teaser trailer two years ago. The LSA trailer went viral within days, and grabbed the attention of numerous publishers wanting to help him finish the game. These included the likes of Sony, Epic Games, and a few others. At the time of the release, the self-titled, “lonely” developer had no intention of sharing his baby with the rest of the gaming community, but after some careful consideration, he has decided to complete the game. In fact, Bing had such a strong opinion on keeping the game to himself, and coupled with the sense of being overwhelmed by the attention, he took to Facebook to explain his train of thought at the time:
“I have thought that the reason I want to refuse their offer is the fear of tough life. But after talking with many of you I realized that the real reason is the fear of sharing my world.
Maybe we don’t know each other, but actually I’m a self-closing and nameless guy in real life, and now I realized my dream is not to create a game, is to create a world belongs to me, so I can dive into it from the real world, as I said that I planned to decorate the world little by little for maybe 10 years, I want the world to be beautiful, I want Kazer [the main character] to be powerful because I want to be one like him but I can’t.
I said I will make it commercial some day but when they really came to me, I’m scared just like someone want to take my world away from me, I begin to be like a little boy protecting his toy.
I have thought about this for a long time and I realized that I’m no longer lonely and nameless because of you. Everyone treats me as a friend instead of a developer. If you think my world is good then I should share it to you, even if it may turn out to be another one when it becomes commercial. I’ll have a try to show you the world I dreamed. I decide to take the opportunity.
Thank you everyone. I’ll try not to disappoint your expect and mine. It will be tough but I’d like to try. It was for myself but I’m glad to bring it to you now.”
Since the decision was made to complete the game for a global audience, Bing has since setup a few social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on Lost Soul Aside. While the platforms have not been decided as yet, the footage from the trailer was developed for PC. It’s hard to believe that a single developer was made by one man, even having purchased a few marketplace add-ons. Well done Yang Bing.
