Guild Studio (CEO Kim Taeyoon) announced its participation in the ‘2024 PlayX4 B2B’ at KINTEX Exhibition Center 1 in Ilsan from May 23rd to 26th.
Guild Studio combines a moody dark fantasy concept with innovative game mechanics. Their previous work, ‘BLIND’ (2022), obtained exhibition qualifications for Smilegate’s festival ‘Burning Beaver’ and completed the exhibition. Moreover, ‘BLIND’ was selected for the ICT Culture Fusion Startup Contest held by Seokyeong University with its prototype. ‘Revelatio,’ currently in development, was chosen for the development category in the ‘2024 SBA Game Content Customized Support Project’ conducted by the Seoul Business Agency and also selected for the Indie Rockzil program by the Korea Indie Game Association.
‘Revelatio’ is currently available in Korean and English versions, with a demo uploaded on Steam. After uploading the demo on April 6th and analyzing the Steam metrics until April 17th, it was reported that the game received consistent interest from gamers in many countries. The highest interest came from the targeted markets of North America and Korea. Moreover, the Click-through rate, indicating the percentage of users who clicked when the thumbnail was exposed, showed a high rate of 80%.
In response, Guild Studio stated that domestic and international YouTubers voluntarily uploaded numerous review videos within about two weeks after the ‘Revelatio’ demo release, and the reactions were positive. Although there were comments about the lack of diversity in the sound, this is also planned to be improved by May.
At this PLAYX4 event, Guild Studio aims to promote Revelatio more widely through various encounters with fans and companies. Particularly at the B2C booth, they plan to create opportunities for gamers to play the game directly and provide feedback to the developers. They also plan to conduct prize events through raffle draws for those who play the game and cosplay events for game characters, allowing gamers to enjoy time together.
‘Revelatio’ focuses on increasing interactive elements, allowing players to control enemy units and NPCs that were previously uncontrollable. The game’s unique system, the ‘Corruption System,’ will enable players to ‘corrupt’ enemy units or NPCs through in-game combat and dialogue, transforming them into beings consumed by darkness, expressed visually and through the narrative. Moreover, players can utilize corrupted characters as allied units in battles to evoke a sense of actively driving the game world among users.
The ‘2024 PlayX4 B2B,’ hosted by Gyeonggi Content Agency and KINTEX, is themed ‘More Than Just the Joy of Gaming’ and features exhibitions and experiences of new games from Korean and international game companies. Visitors can enjoy side programs like the retro game market, esports competitions, and cosplay events.
The game features various systems such as Avatars, Maps, Battles, Faith and Corruption, Stigmata, NPCs, and Multi-session elements. Avatars represent the players in the game and consist of three characters, each with three unique skills. The initial progression of the game follows the story of the Black Prophet. Battles occur on a 3 x 6 tile grid turn-based, with victory achieved by defeating all enemies. Players can use units directly involved in combat and various player skills to subdue or corrupt enemies. Within battles, numerous variables are created depending on each unit’s attack format and placement.
Guild Studio reported that after showing ‘Revelatio’ game introduction to 500 gamers and conducting a survey, statistics showed a preference rate of 56.2%, an interest rate of 57.8%, and an intention to use rate of 58.0%. They expect consumer demand in the future market.
A Guild Studio representative explained, “Revelatio’ portrays a dark fantasy world with delicate and heavy pixel art. Players can experience strategically deep gameplay in this captivating pixel art world.” They added, “The main target audience includes fans of turn-based strategy and roguelike deck-building games. There is interest in introducing ‘Revelatio’ globally, especially in North America, and there is a strong interest in turn-based strategy games. Moreover, recent Steam traffic has shown significant traction in Hong Kong and Russia, so entering those markets is also being considered.”
In the future, Guild Studio expressed its ambition to continue breaking existing frameworks and opening new horizons regarding genres, systems, and concepts, as with ‘Revelatio’ and its previous work, ‘BLIND.’
The representative said, “After the release of ‘Revelatio,’ we plan to continue communicating with fans through platforms like Twitter, Discord, and live internet streaming. Especially after the release of ‘Revelatio,’ we will establish strategies to meet the needs of Guild fans through a comparative analysis with BLIND fans. Furthermore, we will continue developing the unique dark fantasy atmosphere preferred by Guild fans in future works and maintain the branding of a game company that combines innovative systems and dreamy dark fantasy atmospheres. We also plan to enhance the game through meetings with fans at events, actively participating in game festivals such as GSTAR, BIC, Burning Beaver, and Tokyo Game Show.”
Hosted by Gyeonggi Province and organized by Gyeonggi Content Agency the 2024 PlayX4 B2B event will showcase new releases and experiences from domestic and international game companies under the theme “More than the Fun of Games.” The event will also feature side programs such as a retro market, e-sports competitions, and cosplay events.