Has Sony "China Hero Project" succeeded in eight years? | Game Interview
Written by | Xue Dexing
Interview | Yan Yu
Editor | Liu Shiwu
On December 18, Sony Interactive Entertainment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. held the PlayStation® China 10th Anniversary Party "Play All Night" offline event in Shanghai.
Ten years ago, the "official entry of PS4 into China" was regarded as a key time node in the gaming industry, marking the end of the "game console sales ban" that had been in effect since 2000. However, while the console problem was solved, the subsequent challenge was the scarcity of content.
For both Sony and the other two manufacturers of the "Big Three", the market gap of more than ten years has made the domestic content ecosystem and user habits quite different from the overseas market, and the production and consumption ends are almost starting from scratch. As the first major console manufacturer to return, Sony's solution to this is, on the one hand, to continuously introduce classic games to the domestic market, and on the other hand, to fully support local game developers - and this gave birth to the "China Hero Project".
The "China Hero Project" is a guidance and support project for local game developers in China launched by PlayStation®. Since its announcement in 2016, the "China Hero Project" has supported and assisted many local game development teams. The first two phases of the project have incubated several games that have been launched on domestic and foreign platforms, covering most of the mainstream game types from shooting, puzzle-solving to action adventure.
In November 2022, the third phase of the "China Hero Project" was officially announced, promising to provide one-stop support related to game development, such as funds and technology, for up to 10 games. Moreover, the scale of the third phase of the "China Hero Project" will far exceed the previous ones, and each selected project will be provided with free resource support worth approximately 1 million yuan.
Of course, for the gaming industry, content production has many uncertainties. In the China Hero Project, there are no shortage of well-received masterpieces such as "F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch" and "Hardcore Mecha", but there are also many highly anticipated works that have not been successful. From the first phase to the third phase, Sony and many game studios have not stopped looking for solutions to "make good games".
The day after the 10th anniversary party event, SIE Shanghai held a media interview. The interview guests were Bao Bo, the project leader of the China Hero Project, Yang Bing, the producer of "Lost Soul Aside", Xu Min, the producer of "Convallaria Project", and Ying Chao, the producer of "Daybreak". We discussed with the guests the development of these three works, as well as the support and opportunities brought by the China Hero Project over the years.
The following is the key summary of this interview by 36Kr Games
A Glimmer of Hope for "Difficult-to-Produce" Games: "Lost Soul Aside" Needs a Final Sprint, "Convallaria Project" Reveals Game Business Model
At the previous 10th anniversary party, the single-player action game "Lost Soul Aside", which has been in development for ten years, released the latest promotional PV and announced that it will be officially released within 2025 and available on PS5 and PC platforms. Another multiplayer online shooting action game, "Convallaria Project", is also expected to be launched in 2025. "Daybreak" is a new project selected for the third phase of the China Hero Project. It was previously invited for offline testing at ChinaJoy and is a two-dimensional "hardcore action" open-world game. Currently, there is no actual release plan.
Regarding the specific release time of "Lost Soul Aside", it cannot be determined from the interview. Bao Bo said that the development of "Lost Soul Aside" has been completely on the right track, but due to some well-known reasons in the gaming industry, it still needs a final sprint and may "fight until the last moment".
"Lost Soul Aside"
For another game, "Convallaria Project", the producer Xu Min said that the content for the game's launch has basically been developed and is currently in the polishing and optimization stage. The game's business model is basically in line with the mainstream "service-based game", with free download, season updates, and season pass payments as the main methods. Combined with SIE's overseas promotion and localization resources, it is expected to be launched simultaneously in more than a dozen countries and regions around the world next year.
Judging from the previous news, the game mode of "Convallaria Project" supports PVP/PVE. First, there is a certain degree of competition among players, and then the surviving teams cooperate to fight against the enemy. The PVP mode is similar to the third-person battle royale, and some tactical skills and in-game designs can be seen as influenced by Apex. Considering the poor operation situation of Apex in the past year and the player loss caused by its "inaction", if this game has a more mature global layout and long-term operation methods, it may be able to attract players of this genre.
"Convallaria Project"
"Daybreak" is a two-dimensional open-world game that focuses on "hardcore" action, which means that in addition to the two-dimensional art style, the combat part has relatively high requirements for players. In the previous actual machine test, almost no testers cleared the BOSS. Regarding the progress, the person in charge Ying Chao said that it is currently in the stage of expanding the content and making feedback and modifications to the core combat part.
"Daybreak"
From "2A" to "3A", the Vision of the China Hero Project Expands
Compared to the situation eight years ago, the game volume of the third phase of the China Hero Project seems to be continuously expanding. Among the projects selected for the third phase of the China Hero Project, the vast majority are experienced development teams, and they are also more focused on large-scale game genres such as action, open-world role-playing, and FPS.
Bao Bo, the person in charge of the China Hero Project, said that the goal of the China Hero Project has indeed changed, from mainly supporting small and medium-sized independent projects to survive in the past to now adding fuel to "medium to large teams" to enable them to challenge higher-level games.
The change in the vision and "ambition" of the China Hero Project may also be related to the increasingly developed and mature game talent team in China.
Bao Bo mentioned that compared with before, there are more and more experienced developers in the selected developer teams of the China Hero Project. "We found that many very professional developers choose to start their own businesses and devote themselves to this field". The goals of these developers have gradually changed from "making a game" to "competing with powerful works", and the China Hero Project adheres to the goal of cooperating and serving Chinese developers. Of course, it also hopes to incorporate such a goal into the vision of the entire China Hero Project.
As an important supporter of Chinese game development, the change in the vision of Sony's China Hero Project indeed reflects the development achievements and market trends of the domestic game industry in recent years. In addition to the maturity and growth of technical talents, the popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong" reflects the market sentiment for high-quality 3A games, which has also strengthened the determination of more Chinese developers to challenge 3A.
Domestic Single-Player ARPGs Cluster, with Some Concerns about the Overwhelming "Soul-like" Flavor
More people daring to challenge 3A is certainly a good thing for the Chinese game industry, but 3A does not mean only one type.
Judging from the nine games announced in the third phase of the China Hero Project, the proportion of ARPG and soul-like elements in domestic single-player games is increasing. The novelty of these games is more in the art and world view settings, while in the core gameplay and the "pleasure points" of the game, what we still see is the "same set" that has been tested by the market for a long time and is familiar to many players, which is somewhat worrying.
In the European and American gaming circles that have experienced the 3A era earlier, we have already seen a certain type of fatigue. Let's mention that example again. The 2024 Game of the Year at TGA was awarded to "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission", and the Mobile Game of the Year was given to the indie author's "Joker Card". Does this mean that the European and American world has reached an era where it desires innovation in core gameplay?
More importantly, in just a few years, the Chinese single-player game market has also undergone rapid changes. The emergence of Unreal Engine 5 and various technological changes have greatly raised players' pursuit of game graphics. In the Chinese game market in the next ten years, a more mature and experienced player group will undoubtedly be cultivated. Under such market conditions, seeking differentiated content is a good thing for both players and manufacturers.
For large-scale single-player games with a long development period, if they cluster in ARPG and soul-like elements and fail to come up with their own core creativity and competitiveness, player fatigue may also quietly arrive.
The following is an excerpt of the interview content, with deletions and modifications while retaining the original meaning
Q: "Lost Soul Aside" has been announced for a long time, and many producers started making games because of "Lost Soul Aside". However, many of these latecomers have already launched and released their own games one after another, while "Lost Soul Aside" has been in polishing and is finally expected to be launched next year. Can you share your thoughts and experiences during this process?
Yang Bing: Yes, it has indeed been a long time. Personally, I feel that over the years, the boundary between the development process and my personal life has become blurred, and it has basically become a part of my life.
In the beginning, from the stage of being an individual to receiving attention after the announcement and getting a lot of encouragement, many partners and friends came to help, and we started to develop it as a team for a new project. Actually, at that time, we didn't know much and dared to do anything, but in reality, we kept making mistakes and there was a period of low morale. Later, we slowly found our rhythm again. After receiving more support and attention, not only the team's ability but also my personal accumulated experience have gradually improved, and the situation has gradually gotten better and the energy has come back.
Up to now, the entire project process is coming to an end. Compared to these years, I think the achievements and what we can bring to everyone in the future are still worth looking forward to.
Producer of "Lost Soul Aside", Yang Bing
Q: Compared to conventional buy-to-play games, what is the reason behind the long development cycle of "Lost Soul Aside"? Does the current "Lost Soul Aside" match the ideal situation when it was first revealed eight years ago?
Yang Bing: The first reason is a very practical problem. Although "Lost Soul Aside" received a lot of attention back then, at that time, my personal experience and ability were not sufficient to support making it a game that could be officially and completely released. So from that point to now, for many years, a lot of time was spent on building the team and my personal growth and trial and error.
"Lost Soul Aside" will finally present a situation that is in line with my and my team's ability, and integrates the existing resources to meet everyone's expectations. Although we have made many adjustments along the way, the art assets and many things beyond the graphics that everyone saw and liked at the beginning have been retained until now. For example, the main storyline of the protagonist and his dragon has been improved and enriched. The combat style is still fast and gorgeous.
Q: It was just mentioned that "Lost Soul Aside" is different from the initial version. When was the version that is about to be launched roughly determined, such as three years ago or five years ago? Was it developed by first setting a segment and extending from it, or was it gradually filled in after the entire world view framework was established?
Yang Bing: It wasn't until a PV of more than ten minutes was released in 2021 that the overall tone was finally determined, and the process shown in that PV was the one used at last year's ChinaJoy. After that process was determined, it was used as a reference template, and the development process of the rest of the game was carried out accordingly, and the finalization of the game was also completed at that time. Contents such as the overall storyline, specific plot examples, and the entire world view framework were basically completely sorted out during that period.
Q: I have tried the latest "Lost Soul Aside" demo, and the smoothness of operation and visual effects have been significantly improved compared to the previous version. What key optimizations have been made to this game in the past year? And what problems will be focused on solving from now until the official release of the game?
Yang Bing: Based on the version that everyone played last time, we have made optimizations according to the feedback from Sony Interactive Entertainment and other testers, including optimizing all the enemies. These details are still being continuously polished. When it reaches a certain level, we will lock in a version that we are relatively satisfied with.
In addition, we have spent a lot of time on the scene art. Because this project was established relatively early, it was during the PS4 era, and a large number of assets were produced at that time. After fully transplanting to PS5, we upgraded the graphics. Last year, the entire art assets were optimized. The China Hero Project team has helped us a lot in this regard.
Subsequently, we are also making some adjustments in the plot and animation, and these tasks are currently being wrapped up.
Q: Both "Lost Soul Aside" and "Convallaria Project" have been announced for a long time. How to adapt to the significant changes in the domestic game field, player groups, and the entire market environment from the project establishment to the release?
Xu Min: For "Convallaria Project", indeed, from the project establishment to the present, the entire game market, including the multiplayer online shooting game market, has undergone great changes. So in the entire development process, we have been observing the changes in the market and the preferences of player groups, and making corresponding adjustments and tests to our game and gameplay design.
In addition, at the hardware level, the improvement in hardware over the years is indeed very significant. When we first established the project, the main version was PS4, but now it has been migrated to PS5 Pro. The increase in the quality requirements of players for games and the improvement in hardware skills have forced us to continuously iterate on the art. So in fact, the trailer that was initially announced and the content in the current game are completely different.
There are also some technological innovations. We considered whether to update the engine, but after discussing with the publisher and the technical team, we finally decided to retain the highest version of UE4 and not migrate to UE5.
Yang Bing: My situation is roughly the same. In addition, because the project has been going on for a long time, my personal habits are also changing. Maybe my hand speed is not as fast as before