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"The Lightless World" is a cosmic horror action RPG with a unique twist: instead of controlling heroes, players take on the roles of demonic gods in a dark universe. Developed by The3rd.One Games, the game promises an innovative and immersive experience, although it still doesn't have an official release date. In a recent interview, the studio shared fascinating details about the creative process and the challenges they faced during the game's development.

The concept for "The Lightless World" was heavily inspired by Cthulhu-style lore and elements of dark comic horror. The studio revealed that they wanted to create something out of the ordinary, an experience where "there is an appeal in playing as the side of evil, which is a little rare in most games." This unique perspective allowed the developers to fully embrace the carnage in both gameplay and narrative, providing a visceral experience for players.

Developing a reverse horror game with co-op mode brought a series of technical and design challenges. While most roguelite games with an isometric camera are single-player, The3rd.One Games decided to innovate within the genre by introducing multiplayer co-op. "The challenges begin with the technical side, ensuring that multiplayer runs smoothly and accurately with no lag or visible desync in spells, contact, calculations, and hit registration," the studio explained. Additionally, gameplay issues like camera distance and effect visibility were carefully adjusted to ensure a seamless experience for both solo and co-op play.

The team also addressed how they plan to balance the gameplay experience between single-player and co-op modes. According to the studio, "the solo vs co-op gameplay is already fully balanced through in-game calculations and math that control the scaling of enemies and content difficulty." Co-op mode allows two players to combine tactics and strategies, creating infinite possibilities for overcoming challenges that a solo player might not be able to face. "When one player dies, the other can resurrect them by defeating the stage boss," they emphasized, highlighting the importance of teamwork in co-op gameplay.

Although the game is still awaiting a release date, the developers are optimistic about its future. They plan to release "The Lightless World" into Early Access shortly after October's Steam Next Fest, where they will participate with a fully playable demo available to everyone for free. The studio also has ambitious post-launch plans, including adding new playable characters, events, challenges, crafting systems, character lairs, items, and item sets, as well as new procedurally generated talent systems that ensure a unique gameplay experience each run, even if players always choose the same evil protagonist.