Over the last dozen years, the Warsaw‑based studio One More Level has steadily built a reputation for delivering AA‑level experiences that often rival the polish of full‑blown AAA releases. The studio first burst onto the international scene with Ghostrunner, a sleek cyber‑punk action‑platformer that debuted in 2020 to glowing reviews and strong sales – Video Game Insights estimates put the figure at roughly 5.6 million copies sold worldwide. The success was strong enough to justify a sequel, which arrived in 2023 and continued to showcase the team’s knack for high‑octane gameplay, tight level design, and a visual aesthetic that feels expensive without the massive budgets typical of top‑tier publishers. Despite these achievements, the broader AA market has entered a difficult phase.
In recent years, capital for mid‑range projects has thinned just as the number of competing titles has swelled. Smaller publishers have become risk‑averse, often gravitating toward micro‑budget games under $1 million, while the heavyweight studios double down on evergreen franchises that guarantee blockbuster returns.
Even titles that have demonstrated that AA games can sell in the millions – such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – still struggle to secure the kind of financing that would let developers focus on craft rather than cash flow. "We had this enormous success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but still publishers find the AA segment quite risky," explains Radek Ratusznik, game director at One More Level, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom.
"We probably need a few more Expedition 33s to just prove them wrong. Maybe one Expedition is not enough.
There are also so many companies who can deliver very good titles in the AA scope and budget, not just spending hundreds of millions." Ratusznik adds that modern development tools have shortened production pipelines and reduced costs, yet they cannot replace the need for a realistic schedule. "I think that with the technology that we have right now, we can make better‑quality games a bit faster, maybe a bit cheaper, but still it's not like we can make the game in one year without any trouble. The game still needs proper time to be published and properly tested. I doubt that we can squeeze it that much, as probably some of the publishers would like to." The studio’s newest project, Valor Mortis, has been a case study in the volatility of AA publishing.
Originally, Ghostrunner and its sequel were handled by 505 Games, the Italian arm of Digital Bros. However, Digital Bros announced a 30 percent staff reduction in late 2023 as part of a broader restructuring, signalling a tightening of its publishing slate.
For Valor Mortis, One More Level first inked a deal with Private Division, the indie‑focused label under Take‑Two Interactive. That partnership collapsed in early 2024 when Take‑Two’s leadership, led by Strauss Zelnick, announced a strategic pivot toward AAA blockbusters, stating, "We're in the business of making great big hits." Private Division’s assets were later sold and the label re‑emerged as Fictions in 2025, now best known for Game Freak’s Beast of Reincarnation. When the Private Division agreement fell apart, One More Level briefly contemplated self‑publishing Valor Mortis. "But it turns out that if we want to make this game at the same quality level that we wish it for, then we had to find a publisher," Ratusznik admits.
Enter Lyrical Games, a publishing venture spun out of the film company Lyrical Media – the same group behind the Hugh Jackman feature The Death of Robin Hood. Founded in 2025 by former Private Division executives Blake Rochkind and Roger Kurtz, Lyrical Games positions itself as an oasis for mid‑tier developers, a sentiment echoed by Rochkind when he told GamesIndustry.biz, "The number of people who are like, 'Oh my god, you guys are like an oasis in the desert' is really gratifying and obviously scary, because, of course, we can only do so much." Rochkind cites Clair Obscur as the sort of AA title that would be a dream for Lyrical Games to support. "If we have one of those in our life as a label, that would be a dream," he says. The timing proved fortuitous for One More Level, whose director notes, "We were fortunate that Blake and Roger remembered us.
They knew the project very well." At the point when funding for Valor Mortis was still uncertain, the studio employed roughly 40‑50 staff members. Rather than resort to layoffs, the team leaned on reserves saved from earlier successes. "Fortunately, we had our own savings from back in the day, so we were able to just live through the time and not cut the team, which was not easy," Ratusznik recalls.
"We did this kind of leap of faith that we're going to find the funding for the game. And the team is worth it – because it's very hard to build a proper team for a game, and it's very easy to destroy it." As the October 13 launch date draws near, the studio has expanded to over 70 employees, though not all are dedicated to Valor Mortis; a portion is already engaged on a separate, as‑yet‑unannounced project.
This growth reflects a broader industry trend where AA studios often outsource large portions of development to keep core costs low. For instance, Sandfall Interactive, the team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, maintained a core staff of about 30 but relied heavily on external contractors for art, programming, and audio.
One More Level, however, has made a conscious decision to keep the majority of production in‑house. Lead designer Łukasz Wabik explains, "We use external QA. We've also got a company which works on some trailers and marketing software stuff. But almost all of the assets were done in‑house." Looking ahead, Ratusznik says a successful launch could trigger further hiring, but the studio is wary of scaling too quickly.
"If it is successful, we're probably going to grow with it, but we don't want to just change immediately to some AAA company," he notes. "We'll feel comfortable if we can control the stuff that is happening." Valor Mortis itself is a first‑person action RPG that blends familiar mechanics with fresh thematic choices. Its combat system evokes the methodical, punishing encounters of Dark Souls, while the use of plasmid‑style powers nods to BioShock’s weaponized augmentations. The most distinctive element, however, is its historical backdrop: the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.
The team deliberately chose a period that is rarely explored in contemporary games, aiming to differentiate the title in a crowded market. "The 19th century was particularly interesting for us, but at the beginning we thought about something that is more recognisable, closer to something like Bloodborne, which isn't recent, but is quite fresh and fantasy. We wanted to find something more specific – the Napoleonic era sounded reasonable for us," Ratusznik explains.
Early narrative concepts were even more fantastical – one pitch imagined Napoleon himself possessed by a malevolent force. Over time, the story shifted toward a more grounded, horror‑inflected depiction of the era, retaining supernatural hints without descending into outright dark fantasy. "We've since moved to a more grounded approach. There are still elements of fantasy here, but it's not like the demon Napoleon is conquering the world.
It's a different story: more grounded, more about the war and the horrors of war," he says. This evolution reflects the studio’s desire to balance historical authenticity with the creative freedom that AA budgets can afford.
The first‑person swordplay, combined with period‑appropriate weaponry and the aforementioned mutations, forms the core of Valor Mortis’s unique selling points. "These are our USPs basically. They are pretty strong, and we are very happy about the reception so far," Ratusznik remarks. By marrying a recognizable historical setting with speculative horror elements, the team hopes to give players a familiar yet novel experience – one that feels both recognizable and fresh.
In summary, One More Level’s journey from a funding scare to a partnership with a film‑industry‑derived publisher illustrates the precarious yet resilient nature of the AA sector. Their commitment to retaining talent, keeping production largely internal, and daring to experiment with unconventional settings demonstrates how mid‑tier studios can still push creative boundaries, provided they find the right backers who share their vision. Valor Mortis stands as a testament to that philosophy, and its upcoming release will be a key indicator of whether the industry’s skepticism toward AA projects can finally be overturned.