Over the last dozen years, the Warsaw‑based studio One More Level has built a reputation for delivering AA‑level experiences that often rival AAA productions in polish and ambition. Their breakout title, the cyber‑punk platformer Ghostrunner, arrived in 2020 to widespread critical praise and impressive sales—Video Game Insights estimates place its global shipments at roughly 5.6 million copies.
The success was strong enough to merit a sequel, which launched in 2023 and continued the franchise’s upward trajectory. Despite these achievements, the broader AA segment is currently under pressure.
Funding streams have thinned just as the market has become more crowded, prompting many smaller publishers to gravitate toward low‑budget projects under $1 million while the industry heavyweights double‑down on evergreen, high‑profile franchises. Even standout AA titles such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have struggled to secure the kind of financial backing that once seemed routine for mid‑tier games. "Our hit with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 proved the model works, yet publishers still view the AA space as a gamble," explains Radek Ratusznik, One More Level’s game director, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom. "One successful Expedition isn’t enough to change the perception.
We’ll probably need several more to convince the skeptics. There are plenty of studios capable of delivering high‑quality AA games without blowing hundreds of millions of dollars." Ratusznik adds that modern development tools have shortened production cycles and reduced costs, but they cannot eliminate the need for a realistic timeline. "We can iterate faster and more efficiently now, but you still can’t finish a polished game in a single year without compromising quality.
Publishers who push for extreme compression risk releasing a product that isn’t ready for players." The studio’s latest project, Valor Mortis, has been a case study in the difficulties of finding a publishing partner. After Ghostrunner’s partnership with Italy’s 505 Games—an arm of Digital Bros that announced a 30 % staff reduction in late 2023—the developers turned to Private Division for their new title.
However, Take‑Two’s 2024 strategic shift toward AAA blockbusters led to a scaling back of Private Division’s resources, leaving Valor Mortis without a home. When the Private Division deal collapsed, One More Level briefly entertained self‑publishing. "We realized that to maintain the quality we envisioned, we still needed a publisher’s support," Ratusznik says.
The answer arrived from Lyrical Games, a publishing venture spun out of the film company Lyrical Media—the same outfit behind the Hugh Jackman film 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. "People tell us we’re an oasis in a desert, which feels both encouraging and daunting," Rochkind told GamesIndustry.biz last year.
"If we can back a title like Clair Obscur, it would be a dream come true for our label." Ratusznik credits the timing of Lyrical Games’ arrival as serendipitous. "Blake and Roger remembered us and understood the project from day one," he notes. At the point when funding fell short, the studio employed roughly 40‑50 staff members.
Rather than resort to layoffs, the team leaned on savings accumulated from previous releases. "It was a leap of faith, but we believed in our people. Building a cohesive team is hard; tearing it apart is far easier," he reflects.
Today, the studio has expanded to over 70 employees, though not all are assigned to Valor Mortis; a portion is already working on an as‑yet‑unnamed follow‑up. Many AA studios supplement their core teams with external contractors—for example, Sandfall Interactive relied heavily on outside talent while developing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. One More Level, however, strives to keep production in‑house wherever possible.
Lead designer Łukasz Wabik explains, "We outsource QA and a few marketing assets, but the majority of art, animation, and programming stays inside the studio." Looking ahead, the developers say a successful launch could trigger further hiring, but they intend to grow organically rather than leap straight into AAA‑scale operations. "If Valor Mortis performs well, we’ll scale up, but we want to retain control and avoid becoming a massive, impersonal studio," Ratusznik asserts. Valor Mortis itself is a first‑person action RPG that blends influences from several celebrated franchises. Its combat and boss design evoke the punishing encounters of Dark Souls, while its plasmid‑style abilities recall the power‑ups of BioShock.
The game’s most distinctive feature, however, is its setting: the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. The developers deliberately chose an era that is rarely explored in video games to differentiate their product in a saturated market. Ratusznik explains the creative process behind the setting. "We wanted something fresh, not the typical medieval fantasy or sci‑fi backdrop.
The Napoleonic period offered a rich historical canvas and a chance to inject a unique flavor," he says. Early narrative concepts even flirted with a supernatural twist—imagining Napoleon possessed by a dark force—but the team eventually settled on a more grounded approach.
"We kept hints of fantasy, but the focus is on the grim realities of war and the horror that can emerge from it, rather than a demon‑possessed emperor conquering the world." The first‑person swordplay, combined with period‑accurate weaponry and a horror‑tinged aesthetic, constitutes the game’s primary unique selling points. "Our USP is the marriage of a recognizable historical period with speculative mutations and a horror atmosphere," Ratusznik says.
"Players will recognize the era, yet experience it through a fresh, unsettling lens." In summary, One More Level’s journey from Ghostrunner’s triumph to Valor Mortis’ impending release illustrates both the challenges and opportunities facing AA developers. By securing a publisher that believes in mid‑tier ambition, preserving a stable in‑house team, and delivering a game that blends familiar mechanics with an unconventional setting, the studio hopes to demonstrate that AA titles can still capture both critical acclaim and commercial success, ultimately persuading wary publishers to place their bets on the middle of the market.