The team behind 'Sudden Attack,' led by Baek Seung-hoon, has unveiled their new title, 'Waste The Fallen.' This marks their first major release in four years, following 'CROWZ,' which launched in Steam Early Access in 2022.

On the 13rd, Royal Crow announced 'Waste The Fallen,' a PC Extraction Shooter inspired by the Lovecraftian universe. The game's first test will take place in North America. The closed alpha test is scheduled for four days, from 7:00 PM on September 4 to 11:59 PM on September 8 (PDT). In Korea, this corresponds to 11:00 AM on September 5 to 3:59 PM on September 9.

Royal Crow CEO Baek Seung-hoon is a key figure who helped define the domestic FPS market while overseeing the development of 'Sudden Attack' and 'Dekaron' during his time at GameHi. He later founded Thumbage, led 'Hero for Kakao' to success, and took the company public on the KOSDAQ. In October 2018, he established the subsidiary Royal Crow to focus exclusively on development, serving as its CEO. The studio is staffed by many veterans of the domestic FPS scene who worked on 'Sudden Attack,' 'S2 Online,' and 'Hounds.'

Their first project did not meet expectations. 'CROWZ,' which entered Early Access in March 2022, ceased service the following year. During this period, the company's capital structure also shifted. In February 2021, Aceville Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Tencent, became the largest shareholder after purchasing 296707 shares of Royal Crow from Thumbage for ₩17.7 billion, eventually acquiring the remaining stake the following year.

The reorganization began even before 'CROWZ' closed its doors. In September 2022, the company launched a new project: a first-person survival-extraction shooter built on Unreal Engine 5. 'Waste The Fallen' is the result of that effort, marking a shift in genre from a military shooter to a cosmic horror Extraction Shooter.

The game is set in the 'Deep,' an abyss within a collapsed world. Players take on the role of a scavenger known as a 'Deviant,' descending into the abyss either solo or in squads of up to three. The goal is to scour the ruins for weapons, materials, and unique resources and return alive. Threats include 'Fallen'—monstrous creatures born from the collapse—as well as other players with the same objective. Resources gathered are used to upgrade the 'Bio-Arm,' a prosthetic limb possessed by all Deviants. Between expeditions, players return to a hideout to expand production facilities and prepare for the next run.

The horror is designed to be felt rather than just seen. According to the company, as an expedition progresses, the environment becomes increasingly hostile and the sense of a distorted world intensifies. A 'mental power' system has been added, requiring players to manage their own psychological state. However, the penalty for failure has been lowered; a spacious secure inventory allows players to retain a significant portion of their assets upon death, and the production system is designed to be more accessible, ensuring that a single failure does not reset the player's progress.

'Waste The Fallen' Producer Choi Byung-nam stated, "We wanted to create a Extraction Shooter that welcomes players rather than punishing them simply for showing up." He added, "There is a strong tradition of well-received horror content in Korea, and we wanted to capture that atmosphere in a Lovecraftian FPS. We aimed for a structure where horror slowly permeates the experience, but curiosity and deeper exploration are rewarded rather than everything being lost due to a single mistake."