“We probably need a few more Expedition 33s to just prove them fallacious” – the maker of Valor Mortis on why publishers should have faith in AA

Over the previous 12 years, Polish studio One More Stage has carved out a area of interest in the world of AA video games with tasks whose manufacturing values usually strategy these of AAA titles. Its eye-catching 2020 cyberpunk motion platformer Ghostrunner launched to essential acclaim and industrial success, promoting 5.6 million models in accordance to Video Recreation Insights estimates, and it was adopted by a sequel in 2023.

But it is no secret that the AA sector is struggling. Over the previous few years, funding has dried up at the similar time as competitors has elevated, so smaller publishers have tended to want betting on video games with smaller budgets of $1 million or much less, whereas the huge gamers have gone all in on evergreen titles. Regardless of the monumental gross sales of AA video games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, getting funding for a mid-tier title stays an uphill wrestle.

“We had this monumental success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, however nonetheless publishers discover the AA phase fairly dangerous,” One More Stage sport director Radek Ratusznik tells GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom.

“We probably need a few more Expedition 33s to just prove them fallacious. Perhaps one Expedition isn’t sufficient. There are additionally so many corporations who can ship superb titles in the AA scope and finances, not just spending tons of of tens of millions.

“I believe that with the know-how that we have proper now, we will make [better-quality games] a bit quicker, perhaps a bit cheaper, however nonetheless it isn’t like we will make the sport in one yr with none bother. The sport nonetheless wants correct time to be printed and correctly examined. I doubt that we will squeeze it that a lot, as probably some of the publishers would really like to.”

Funding quest

One More Stage has been on a roller-coaster experience in phrases of discovering a writer for its newest sport, Valor Mortis, due out on October 13.

Ghostrunner and its sequel have been printed by the Italian agency 505 Video games – a subsidiary of Digital Bros, which introduced it could reduce its workforce by 30% in late 2023 as half of restructuring. However for Valor Mortis, One More Stage initially signed up with the indie label Personal Division, just for father or mother Take-Two to start scaling again the writer in 2024, with Take-Two head Strauss Zelnick saying that the agency needed to focus on AAA: “We’re in the enterprise of making nice huge hits.”

(Personal Division’s catalogue was bought and the firm reemerged as Fictions in 2025; the writer is behind the just lately launched Beast of Reincarnation from Pokémon studio Recreation Freak.)

Ratusznik says One More Stage was contemplating self-publishing Valor Mortis after the Personal Division deal fell via. “Nevertheless it seems that if we would like to make this sport at the similar high quality degree that we want it for, then we had to discover a writer.”

A saviour appeared in the kind of Lyrical Video games, which like Annapurna Interactive is a game-publishing spin-off from a movie firm: father or mother Lyrical Media is behind the Hugh Jackman film The Loss of life of Robin Hood. Lyrical Video games was shaped in 2025 by former Personal Division heads Blake Rochkind and Roger Kurtz, and is one of comparatively few publishers focusing on mid-tier titles.

“The quantity of people who find themselves like, ‘Oh my god, you guys are like an oasis in the desert’ is de facto gratifying and clearly scary, as a result of, of course, we will solely achieve this a lot,” Rochkind informed GamesIndustry.biz final yr. He gave Clair Obscur as a prime instance of the variety of title the writer is searching for. “If we have one of these in our life as a label, that might be a dream.”

The timing could not have been higher for One More Stage. “We have been lucky that Blake and Roger remembered us,” says Ratusznik. “They knew the venture very properly.”

Staying the course

One More Stage had round 40–50 employees when the studio was searching for funding for Valor Mortis. Ratusznik says they resisted the urge to reduce employees at a level even when the future appeared unsure.

“Fortuitously, we had our personal financial savings from again in the day, so we have been ready to just reside via the time and never reduce the staff, which was not simple,” Ratusznik says. “We did this type of leap of faith that we’re going to discover the funding for the sport. And the staff is value it – as a result of it’s totally onerous to construct a correct staff for a sport, and it’s totally simple to destroy it.”

Now, as the sport approaches launch, the firm has grown to more than 70 individuals, though not all of them are working on Valor Mortis – some are working on one other, unannounced venture.

Many mid-tier or AA corporations rely on exterior improvement for his or her more formidable tasks; Sandfall Interactive, for instance, had a core staff of round 30 individuals throughout the making of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, however relied on a giant quantity of exterior staff. However One More Stage desires to hold as a lot work as attainable in-house.

“We use exterior QA,” notes lead designer Łukasz Wabik. “We have additionally bought a firm which works on some trailers and advertising software program stuff. However virtually all of the belongings have been carried out in-house.”

And One More Stage may properly add more headcount to the firm in future if Valor Mortis does properly. “Whether it is profitable, we’re probably going to develop with it, however we do not need to just change instantly to some AAA firm,” Ratusznik says. “We’ll really feel comfy if we will management the stuff that’s occurring.”

Standing out

Valor Mortis is a first-person motion RPG that borrows a few concepts from different video games. The gameplay echoes Darkish Souls in phrases of its intimidating bosses and the approach objects are left behind when the participant dies, whereas the plasmid-like powers are reminiscent of BioShock. However the setting – the nineteenth century Napoleonic Wars – is an intentional approach to make the sport stand out in an more and more crowded market.

Ratusznik says they looked for a setting that hasn’t been overused in previous video games. “The nineteenth century was significantly fascinating for us, however at the starting we considered one thing that’s more recognisable, nearer to one thing like Bloodborne, which is not current, however is kind of recent and fantasy. We needed to discover one thing more particular – the Napoleonic period sounded affordable for us.”

“We moved from darkish fantasy Napoleonic period to a more horror Napoleonic period”

As soon as they settled on the Napoleonic wars, they started workshopping concepts. “One of the pitches from our narrative staff at the begin was more about Napoleon being possessed by some evil energy,” Ratusznik says. “We have since moved to a more grounded strategy. There are nonetheless parts of fantasy right here, but it surely’s not like the demon Napoleon is conquering the world. It is a completely different story: more grounded, more about the battle and the horrors of battle. We moved from darkish fantasy Napoleonic period to a more horror Napoleonic period with some fantasy parts.”

Together with the setting, the first-person swordplay helps to make Valor Mortis really feel distinctive. “These are our USPs principally. They’re fairly sturdy, and we’re very joyful about the reception to this point,” Ratusznik says. “The setting is the core factor. It is nice that we will present this era of historical past with this twist, these mutations and the horror vibes. It is the candy spot of one thing that the gamers can recognise, however nonetheless discover it fairly recent.”