🌟 [Special] Interview - Birdy (MazM Boss) 2nd episode

2023. 9. 12.

Dear ,

Eleanor here to bring you a special MazM Letter.

Did you enjoy the first special MazM Letter we sent out last week? 😊

Today, we have prepared a second part of the Birdy interview, following up on the previous interview. 👓

Please enjoy reading it!

Interview - Birdy 2nd episode

Q. In the first part of the interview, you mentioned your next project briefly. Could you give us a brief introduction of MazM's next project?

A: Our next project is a mobile game called "Lessa: Checkmate", which will be released at the early next year. It is based on the world and characters of the Korean webtoon "Lessa". (The webtoon has also been released in the United States and Taiwan)

Webtoon "Lessa" is a future-set urban fantasy that combines myth and science fiction. It was serialized on Naver Webtoon in three parts from 2012 to 2018.
https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/lessa/list?title_no=89

"Lessa: Checkmate" is a story-driven growth simulation game based on Naver Webtoon "Lessa". Players will be able to strengthen their characters through strategic choices and automatic battles. Each playthrough will be different, as players will choose how to develop their characters to achieve victory.

By growing the main characters of the original webtoon "Lessa" and following their story, you will be able to experience the vast world of "Lessa: Checkmate" and its hidden secrets.

Q. MazM is making its first webtoon-based game. What inspired you to try this?

A. MazM is a story game development studio that has focused on classic literature and history. We are also interested in various projects that allow us to create games through formal contracts, not just works whose copyrights have expired. For example, we could work on modern novels that we are interested in and that we believe have meaning.

In this regard, we have been in discussions with webtoon companies for several years. This time, we had a great opportunity that could benefit the company, so we decided to take on this challenge with a long-term perspective.

Q. Do you have any new goals in mind when you turn webtoons into games?

A. Many webtoon-based games have been released, and some of them have been very successful. However, I think there have not been enough games that have truly satisfied fans of the original webtoons.

This is because games and webtoons are similar in some ways, but they also have very different strengths and weaknesses. It is not easy to capture the depth and emotion of a webtoon in a game.

Our goal is to create games that provide players with a meaningful experience, both as games and as stories. We want "Lessa: Checkmate" to feel like a MazM game, even though it is based on a modern and unfamiliar content like a webtoon.

We want fans of the webtoon "Lessa" to be satisfied with our game. We want them to feel the same emotions and excitement that they felt when they read the webtoon.

We also want people who have never seen the webtoon to enjoy our game. We hope that they will be curious about the original webtoon and check it out after playing our

game.

We believe that this is the area where we excel. Our previous games, "Jekyll and Hyde’"and "The Phantom of the Opera", have inspired people to read the original novels. We hope that "Lessa: Checkmate" will do the same.

Q. The art style of the new game "Lessa: Checkmate" feels a bit different. Is this because of the original webtoon?

A. Yes, that's right. Unlike our previous games, "Lessa: Checkmate" is based on a webtoon, so the characters are already established. We thought it would be strange to have a very different art style from the webtoon.

We worked with the webtoon artist, "POGO", to preserve the characters from the webtoon as much as possible, while also adding more of a gaming feel.

I hope you like it!

Q. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Do you have any final words for MazM supporters who are reading this special MazM letter?

A. "Lessa: Checkmate" takes place after the ending of the original webtoon, but we've made it so that you can understand it even if you haven't read the original. We wanted to deliver a fun story and game to both fans of the original webtoon and people who haven't read it yet.

In this work, we've tried to create a new story that can bring out the charm of each character based on the original, rather than just telling one complete story. If you follow the events that happen to the characters one by one based on the world view, you'll naturally be drawn into the game world. I hope you'll look forward to what stories the characters we've already revealed will tell you.

We'll be sharing more information gradually.