When Yang Bing, the visionary behind the action JRPG Lost Soul Aside, finally released his decade-long passion project on August 29, 2025, it marked a triumph overshadowed by significant personal and professional trials.
This blog post dives into the rollercoaster journey of a solo developer turned studio founder, exploring the highs, lows, and lessons learned along the way.
Try game demo and buy the game on steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3378960/Lost_Soul_Aside
Before Development and After Release: A Decade of Sacrifice
Yang Bing’s journey began in 2014 as a graduate student at Dongguk University in South Korea, where he crafted the first teaser for Lost Soul Aside as a job portfolio piece—aiming for a role in AAA game development, perhaps even on titles like Final Fantasy XV, rather than mobile games.
That initial spark, shared via a promotional video on July 30, 2016, and later highlighted in his X post and Youtube from August 11, 2016 (visiting Epic Games Korea), caught the attention of Sony Interactive Entertainment. By March 2017, his project joined Sony’s China Hero Project, setting the stage for a long, arduous development process.
However, the road was far from smooth. Over 10 years, Yang reportedly lost his hair, his girlfriend, and several team members—a testament to the personal toll of his ambition. Professionally, the project faced a reboot at some point, scrapping earlier ideas and forcing a shift in direction.
This reboot, combined with a small team and limited budget, stretched resources thin. Then came COVID-19, which disrupted progress further by mandating remote work, adding logistical challenges to an already strained development cycle.
Despite these setbacks, Lost Soul Aside launched on PC and PS5, earning a “Mixed” Steam review score due to performance issues.
Yet, Yang and his team at Ultizero Games are actively addressing optimization concerns, showing resilience in the face of criticism.
Read the long Reddit Post for more in depth context about the development history
Was the struggle worth it? I don’t know
A Glimpse of Hope: The Early Days
I first encountered Lost Soul Aside through its 2017-2018 trailer, which ignited hope in me. The idea of a solo developer, supported by industry giants like Sony and Epic Games (as seen in his 2016 X photo), crafting a game with AAA potential was inspiring. That image of Yang posing with Epic Games Korea staff symbolizes the early collaboration that fueled his dream. Little did I know then the extent of the struggles ahead.
https://twitter.com/yagnbing/status/763646581350346752/photo/1
Lessons from Lost Soul Aside Development
Expect the unexpected. Yang Bing was not really intending to start a studio and make a game. This takes on a toil on you mentally if you are not prepared. I feel having a community not just your teams mates is important when you make a game you need that encouragement and support and cheer.
Be careful what funding you take I do think 💭 the Sony Funding and Epic Games support was good but so was the expectations of the game. I feel maybe they were expecting the next God of War which is hard for a first timer.
Game development is hard, this story really stresses it that it’s more than multidisciplinary, even animation is not as difficult as this, you have to anticipate platform shifts, tastes and trends change faster as well as technology and expectation. I have been trying game development myself and realise how hard it is from tech, art and community building.
Rebooting the game was a good decision as it lowered the scope of the game and make it possible to get to the finish line. Sometimes cutting things in hard might be the best decision.
What is really amazing is he still managed to release the game despite having to scrap some of the original ideas, have a small team and budget changes and scoping down the project. I can only image what he went through the ordeal was not perfect hopefully his next project will take off again now that he has 10 years of experience behind him.
Links for Further Reading
Orignal Post by Synth Potato about the struggle.
https://twistedvoxel.com/lost-soul-aside-made-creator-lose-his-hair-girlfriend
YangBing old Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yagnbing/about
https://gamingtrend.com/reviews/lost-soul-aside-review-a-diamond-in-the-rough
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