Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: The Relic is an open-world action RPG set in a dark fantasy realm ravaged by monsters. Many people assume it's a Soulslike, but while the difficulty is certainly punishing, I wouldn't strictly label it as one.

Planner Park Hye-kyung: To add to its core features, we allow for deep customization through runes and gear. As players explore or conquer bosses, they collect these items, each carrying unique passive effects. Combining specific gear and runes triggers powerful synergy effects. With a wide variety of weapon types—swords, shields, staves, daggers, and greatswords—plus a suite of active skills, the joy lies in experimenting with builds tailored to personal playstyles or boss mechanics.

Art Lead Ko Seol-hwa: As many know, our CEO Park In-hyuk has a storied career in the video industry. He’s worked on everything from blockbusters like Captain Marvel and Aquaman to cinematics for Call of Duty. He wanted to bring that cinematic immersion into a game. That vision fueled the creation of Project Cloud Games and gave birth to The Relic.

Planner Park Hye-kyung: I believe our strength lies in the narrative and atmosphere. We’ve poured immense effort into the staging and tone, from the moment a quest begins to the exploration and boss encounters. Internally, 'presence' is paramount. Instead of relying on cutscenes, we’ve built the game so that players directly interact with characters and experience their plight firsthand.

Animator Yang Ho-seong: I’d also like to highlight the impact of our combat. We’ve obsessively fine-tuned every aspect, from hit effects and attack timing to the perceived weight of every swing.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: I can't disclose the budget, but we have about 12 to 15 people working on this. It’s a lean team, but that actually accelerates development, as communication is rapid and we can share ideas without any corporate red tape.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: We estimate about 35 hours for seasoned action gamers, and perhaps 50 for those less familiar with the genre.

Art Lead Ko Seol-hwa: Personally, I love exploring every nook and cranny in open-world games, and our title is packed with hidden story events and items. If you’re the type to scour every corner, you could easily spend over 30 hours on just the first chapter.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: We are acutely aware of that concern. To prevent it, we’ve created a massive roster of bosses—over 70 unique types—and ensured that defeating them provides meaningful rewards like runes and gear.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: Absolutely. The biggest hurdle was avoiding the 'have I seen this somewhere else?' feeling. We had to ensure every boss felt distinct while staying true to the world-building. I also have a personal obsession with making bosses look cool, so I remember putting in a tremendous amount of work into their aesthetic.

Art Lead Ko Seol-hwa: We referenced other games, of course, but we drew more inspiration from various fairy tales and Korean folklore. We’ve reinterpreted the characteristic, often non-binary moral outcomes of Korean legends to fit our own narrative style.

Planner Park Hye-kyung: We’ve made a habit of twisting familiar stories. Even outside of Eastern folklore, take Snow White—the fact that she ate the apple suggests she wanted to become beautiful, leading us to conclude she had a deep-seated vanity. That kind of analytical approach is woven into much of The Relic's narrative.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: We had initial targets, but as we developed, we kept finding areas that needed improvement. Every developer here is greedy for the players to have the best possible experience, so the delay was inevitable. We are about 80–85% complete, and we are targeting a release date of March 26 next year.

Art Lead Ko Seol-hwa: It's not strictly development-related, but at the PlayX4 exhibition two years ago, one fan visited our booth every single day. They cleared all 10 bosses we had prepared. After finishing, they praised the atmosphere and patterns of each boss, saying, 'I’m dying to see the next boss and the rest of the story.' We were incredibly grateful for that.

Concept Artist Moon Min-gi: Yes, we received a lot of feedback. Much of it was reviewed and implemented. For example, some players felt the UI for the 'groggy' meter broke immersion, so we didn't hesitate to remove it entirely.

Planner Park Hye-kyung: Some felt a specific boss was too monotonous. I spent my post-work hours obsessing over how to make that encounter better for the player. When we revamped it and tested it internally the next day, the feedback was much more positive, which was incredibly rewarding.