Lies of P was a Soulslike game that took on the challenge of being one and has now sured over 7 million s across platforms and subscription services. The developer, Round8, has built quite a reputation from doing so and has been discussing what’s next for them. While they have hinted at both DLC and a sequel for Lies of P, it is something entirely new that could take the world by storm as the developer works on a sci-fi survival horror game next.

With the first images of Lies of P’s DLC appearing and the expectation that it will be released next year, the excitement for the game and the developer is quite high at the moment. As it sounds, the DLC promises to be expansive and will likely lead into the aforementioned sequel. The director, Jiwon Choi, seems to have high hopes and expects that the DLC will delight fans. With all of that in mind, the expectation of a sci-fi survival horror game with the same dedicated developer sounds promising.

Sci-Fi Survival Horror Is A Tough Genre

High Expectations & Potential Pitfalls

The high expectations for a sci-fi survival horror game are hard to live up to for any developer. The Alien movie set the stage for a genuinely great gameplay idea, only for many of those who attempted it to fall flat. When Dead Space was first released in 2008, it was to mostly positive reviews and near-universal acclaim, as much as anything can come close to that at any rate. However, it has been a tough act to follow, and not many sci-fi survival horror games were up to the task.

Dead Space itself did quite well, spinning off two more full-length games and a comic book series among other releases. While the third main installment in the franchise failed to meet expectations, it looked like a new spiritual successor was on its way in 2022. Many thought that Callisto Protocol would be the Dead Space spiritual successor and fill the void left behind by the previous franchise, particularly with Dead Space's creator at the helm of the project.

However, it ended up with mixed reviews, a fairly sub-par story, and far lower sales than expected. Part of this was due to a buggy launch, which is all too common, but even without the bugs, the game underperformed. The following year in 2023, the Dead Space Remake was released, and while it met with mostly positive reviews and seemed to go over well with the fans, it too under-performed, and the planned remake for the sequel was canceled due to financial reasons.

This is not the only time a sci-fi survival horror game has flopped for financial reasons alone, no matter how good the quality of the game. For instance, while Alien: Isolation was generally reviewed well and now has a cult following, any plans for a sequel were indefinitely delayed or canceled when the game didn’t sell as expected on release and made a sequel financially unfeasible in the years following. However, where it and others like it have failed, Round8’s new project has the potential to succeed.

Lies Of P Did The Impossible As A Soulslike

Accolades, Awards & Capturing The Essence

When Lies of P was first announced and the demo ready for , fans of Soulslike games were pleasantly surprised. The excitement was palpable, and upon release, it was met with more success than people perhaps expected. It sold over a million copies in under a month, and many people consider it to have a good mixture of the Soulslike features they know and love, despite not being created by From Software itself.

While many games have similar gameplay experiences and loops, Lies of P feels a lot more like the From Software games than others have managed to do. It also has a unique story and the grungy fairy-tale aesthetic works well for it. There was always a fantasy-like theme in the Dark Souls games, if not a grim version of one, and the setting for Lies of P brought that out in a new way.

The From Software games are also notorious for having only vague references to their own lore, and the story in the game is not often easy to follow. Sekiro is an exception to this, but Lies of P manages to take a fairly well-known story, turn it darker, and expand it into something new. So, while it managed to conjure the essence of a Soulslike game, it also had a unique aspect to it that added something new to the genre and captured player interest.

How Round8 Could Avoid The Callisto Protocol’s Failure

Great Storytelling & Leaning Into What Makes It Unique

One of the great things about Lies of P was the environment. Likewise, a sci-fi survival horror game made by the same developers would be expected to have breathtaking environments. Instead of the steampunk, goth fairy-tale aesthetic, there would instead be expansive spaceships, planetary wonders, and so much potential for the setting to shine. However, while beautiful, this is not the only thing Round8 needs to do to avoid making a mistake.

Good storytelling, however, might reverse this game’s fate and avoid the failure of Callisto Protocol, as that will ultimately be what draws players in. Lies of P proves they can do it, so it is up to them to ensure they follow through. And, while the gameplay itself will have to be up to par, Round8 has not given any reason to expect it will not be good. Callisto Protocol also had to compete with other franchises like Resident Evil upon release, so if they manage to get a window in between other survival horror games, they have an even better chance at succeeding.

With the sales of Lies of P performing well in under a month, a new game from the same developer would hope to come close to that number. Even if it doesn’t, even a smaller part of that success would give this game hope to continue where others have failed. Financial success seems to be key for the survival of this genre, as Alien: Isolation can attest, but the new game has two main things going for it.

The release date will likely be after the Lies of P DLC, which will have fans of that game hyped and itching to try something new. It's also coming out after Alien: Romulus, which took cues from the Alien: Isolation game and renewed interested in the franchise and the space horror genre. A game leaning into this aesthetic would likely do well just for those reasons. However, the other weight in Round8's favor is the fact that it is new.

People are experiencing remake fatigue and are burnt out on seeing the same things. Callisto Protocol was seen unfavorably as a clone of the Dead Space games. Live-action movies are being panned, and the appearance of the Resident Evil 4 Remake and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC at the Game Awards for "Best Game" has stirred controversy.

A new story, something that manages to capture the essence while providing something new to expand the ideas and change the genre yet again, would avoid the problem with the Callisto Protocol entirely. They have proven once that they can take something old and revamp it into something completely different, making it entirely believable that Round8 can do it again with this new sci-fi survival horror game. This in turn would boost sales and hopefully allow this one to live on just like its forerunner Lies of P.

Source: K-Vibe; VGC