"I remember tears streaming down my face as the ending unfolded," he recalled.
That moment of revelation would eventually lead Lee to the heart of South Korea's gaming industry. Today, he serves as the creative director behind The First Berserker: Khazan, an action RPG from Neople, a subsidiary of Nexon.
Released in March, the game shot to second place on Steam's global top sellers chart on its debut day, marking a bold entry into a global market typically dominated by American and Japanese console giants.
Lee's unlikely journey into game development began during long nights playing Warcraft III. A fellow player — a game developer — noticed his strategic precision and invited him to join his company. It was Lee's first step into the industry.
South Korea is better known for its booming mobile and PC game sectors, which together account for nearly 85 percent of the country’s gaming revenue.
Console gaming, by contrast, is a relatively minor player — representing just 4.9 percent of the domestic market. In 2023, the Korean console market totaled roughly $827 million, compared to $26.6 billion in the United States and $3.7 billion in Japan.
Yet Neople chose to break convention with Khazan, its first console-focused, single-player package game. The studio, best known for its Dungeon & Fighter franchise, sought to reimagine that universe for a new platform and audience.
"None of us had ever made a single-player console game before," Lee said. "We had to learn everything from scratch — through iteration, testing, and countless hours of trial and error."
The result is a third-person RPG that distills the Dungeon & Fighter series' frenetic action into a tightly choreographed solo experience. Critics have praised its demanding combat and visceral mechanics. IGN highlighted the game's "exhilaration in executing split-second guards and dodges to escape relentless attacks."
For Lee, crafting the game's action sequences was both a technical and artistic pursuit. Drawing inspiration from sources as diverse as martial arts films and classic arcade titles, he immersed himself in the choreography of movement.
"I studied directors featured at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival — how they talked about timing, rhythm, impact," Lee said. "I analyzed their creative processes the same way I analyzed games."
Lee's obsession with detail is matched by his belief in the importance of hands-on experience. Around 2010, as he surveyed the landscape of over 2,000 gaming companies in Korea, he asked himself how he could stand apart. His answer: become a creator who had lived, played, and deeply understood games.
"There are three kinds of people in game development," he said. "Those who've made games, those with direct or indirect experience, and those with neither. I believe only the first two can make something truly exceptional."
Lee's analytical approach extends to games he didn't create. He breaks down Tekken 3, the iconic fighting game, into elements like control mechanics, psychological interplay, and performance feedback. Every small design decision, he argues, must be in service of player experience.
As for the future, Lee hopes to continue expanding the Dungeon & Fighter intellectual property into new genres and formats. He sees Khazan as a foundation — not just for Neople, but for Korean console gaming more broadly.
"I'll never forget the moment I saw someone buying Khazan in an offline game store on launch day," he said. "It reminded me that this game had to be made like it was my last — with nothing held back. If I'm lucky enough to make another, I’ll aim even higher."
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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