Are There Still Masters in the Open-World Genre? A New Game from a Mysterious Team in Chengdu

Today (the 9th), the open-world RPG *Sleepless Wilderness*, developed by ZEALORY GAMES, released its first promotional video and opened pre-registration at the same time.

*Sleepless Wilderness* positions itself as “an open-world RPG centered on the dual engines of physics and chemistry, where everything interacts.”In the game’s lore, a mysterious subterranean substance called “Hazhar” cycles back and forth between the underground and the surface. Players take on the role of “Traversers,” searching for the truth about the world amid the ruins of ancient civilizations.

After watching the nearly five-minute-long PV, my first impression was definitely “deja vu.”The protagonist can briefly freeze everything around him with a wave of his hand; the hammers he wields appear to be pieced together from different elements; the torches he holds on a rainy day slowly burn out and emit black smoke; and the herd of deer on the grassy slope continues to graze as usual.

The time-stop ability in the PV seems to actually work on the boss. The boss has a wide range of attack patterns—it can dodge, parry, and be hit in specific weak points—and you can even lure it onto traps to make it inflict damage on itself. The environment itself plays a role in combat, and different scenarios may offer different solutions.

Based on the trailer, *Sleepless Wilderness* appears to be a multiplayer online RPG. The trailer has already showcased quite a few ideas for team coordination, and players have begun imagining scenes of “tackling daily quests with friends.” But are these coordinated actions pre-scripted sequences, or will players be free to experiment on their own?

According to public information, Chen Shaohao, founder of Xiaozhi Games, was deeply involved in the development of the PC and mobile versions of *Shenwu* during his early years at Duoyi Network. He left the company in 2018 to establish Tianzhiyou Studio, which received investment from Perfect World.In 2021, he launched *Dream New Zhuxian*, which surged to No. 2 on the iOS Free Chart and the Top 10 on the Top Grossing Chart on its first day of release, generating over 15 million yuan in revenue on its debut. The cumulative revenue of the products he has led in development and operation exceeds 30 billion yuan.

Last August, Chen Shaohao left Chengdu Perfect Sky Intelligence Games to found Xiaozhi Games, which received investment from Ruyi Jingxiu. Yue Ran Interactive, the publisher of *Sleepless Wilderness*, is actually a brand under Ruyi.

Judging by the initial reaction to the first reveal of *Sleepless Wilderness*, players still show a high level of interest in the “interaction with the environment + online multiplayer” combination, and the game quickly climbed to second place on TapTap’s pre-registration chart.