NEOWIZ’s Round8 Studio accelerates hiring push after success of Lies of P

A promotion image of Lies of P / Courtesy of NEOWIZ

NEOWIZ’s Round8 Studio is ramping up recruitment as it expands a multititle development pipeline, with the studio emphasizing a hiring philosophy centered not only on technical skills but on applicants’ identity as gamers.

Fresh off the global success of Lies of P on PC and console, the studio is entering an aggressive expansion phase, currently developing six distinct projects under multiple creative leads.

The lineup includes a new title from Lies of P director Choi Ji-won and his team, known as Team NOUGH, alongside Project Rubicon led by Jin Seung-ho, Project Windi directed by Lee Sang-gyun, and Project CF,e among others. Each project is being developed with a distinct identity and gameplay direction.

Round8 says the strong global performance of Lies of P was not merely the result of production scale or technical execution, but of what it describes as “authentic genre understanding” among developers who are themselves players of action and soulslike games. Soulslike refers to games inspired by the Souls series, defined by common elements such as high mechanical difficulty and challenging boss fights.

The studio says that this gamer-driven perspective was central to shaping gameplay balance, immersion and combat feel, and believes these elements are difficult to achieve through purely technical expertise.

That philosophy is now being reflected in its recruitment strategy. Job postings from Round8 require applicants to present themselves as gamers, including lists of key titles played and total playtime as part of their portfolio submissions.

The studio said there are aspects of game development — such as tuning difficulty curves, identifying player frustration points and refining moment-to-moment immersion — that require gameplay experience in addition to technical skills.

Round8 also stated that it believes this human-centered design insight cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.

Internally, the studio operates under what it calls the “Three Kings” principle: prioritizing quality over quantity; encouraging full ownership of development work; and promoting direct, candid communication across all levels of staff.

The studio added that key creative decisions are often driven from the development floor rather than top-down directives, citing the original concept of Lies of P — which combined the story of Pinocchio with soulslike mechanics — as director Choi’s own proposal.

Round8 said it plans to continue expanding its global footprint, anchored by a core belief that successful game development ultimately depends on creators who not only build games, but play and understand them on a deep level.