The War of Genesis Mobile, developed by Meerkat Games and published by Line Games, will launch its 2.5th-anniversary update on July 7. Alongside this, the game has teased the 'Iron Mask' as the next new Outer One character. Over the past two years, The War of Genesis Mobile has concluded the story of The War of Genesis 2 and progressed through the middle chapters of The Rhapsody of the West Wind. With the upcoming 2.5th-anniversary update, the game will introduce the 'Iron Mask'—widely considered the strongest character in The War of Genesis 3—and kick off Season 2 of the Cosmos Saga, which explores the story of the Ark and delves into the hidden facets of the world.

With new content such as the 'Error Rate Adjustment Bureau' on the horizon, Meerkat Games Director Nam Ki-ryong and Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu sat down with the media to discuss the roadmap for the game’s journey from its 2.5th anniversary toward its 3rd anniversary and beyond.

Official Ending of The Rhapsody of the West Wind by Year-End; The War of Genesis 3 Part 1 Begins in Second Half of 2027

Before the presentation, Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu reflected on his early days joining Meerkat Games. Having joined around Chuseok in 2024, he was initially skeptical about whether The War of Genesis story could be told in a serialized format. However, after successfully completing the story of The War of Genesis 2 in 2025 and covering half of The Rhapsody of the West Wind, he gained the confidence that they could successfully remake Tempest and 3 for the 21st century.

Furthermore, the team has attempted to resolve inconsistencies or tangled settings from the original series in the style of The War of Genesis Mobile. This has led to the parallel development of the 'Cosmos Saga,' which deals with the story related to the Ark where the Asura Project is ongoing, with Season 2 launching for the 2.5th anniversary.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu compared Season 2 to 'The Avengers.' As the main story unfolds, it showcases the stories of each game's protagonists within the Ark. While Heidelloon embarks on a journey to revive Joanne with the help of the Black Prince and the Dark Gods, the 'Iron Mask' and the Black Tempest group emerge as opposing forces, signaling a new turn in the narrative.

The Iron Mask will be released as the fourth Outer One character. He is a character who reflects the 'loop system'—a core element of The War of Genesis universe—with his combat system incorporating his desire to undo the causality distorted by past mistakes. The Tempest group consists of corrupted versions of the original Tempest members, and they are expected to approach the Cosmos Saga in a way that differs from the original Tempest.

Regarding the casting of the Iron Mask, the team considered both original voice actor Hong Si-ho and Kim Hye-sung, who has voiced the character since The War of Genesis Mobile, before deciding on a double-casting approach. Hong Si-ho will voice the original Iron Mask, while Kim Hye-sung will voice the new Iron Mask active in the Ark story. The Iron Mask obtained via the Outer One pickup will feature Hong Si-ho’s voice, while the Kim Hye-sung version will be distributed for free via an event during the pickup period. The reason for this double casting will be revealed in Season 2.

The design of the Iron Mask has been slightly modified, focusing on maintaining the weight and sentiment of the original draft while adding modern details and unique character traits. As he appeared in various roles across multiple titles, the team plans to release various skins corresponding to each identity.

The team also mentioned the revamped Ark system, inspired by The War of Genesis 3 Part 2. While the UI for the Cosmos Saga has been redesigned with an SF theme, the Ark itself will also change into a unique design combining the Tomb of the Brave and the battleship from The War of Genesis 3. The reason for this somewhat bizarre transformation will be confirmed through the Season 2 story.

Following the announcement of the Cosmos Saga Season 2 and the Iron Mask, the team discussed the next story roadmap. They plan to release the official ending of The Rhapsody of the West Wind by the end of this year and add a multi-ending story in the first half of 2027. Additionally, the Tempest part is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027, with development aimed at launching The War of Genesis 3 Part 1 story in the second half of 2027.

Director Nam Ki-ryong then introduced the update direction for the second half of this year. The focus will be on PvE, including idle content, to allow users to receive rewards more comfortably. Meanwhile, they plan to strengthen real-time PVP and revitalize competitive play through systems like tournaments. He added that they would also bolster various events and rewards for new, returning, and existing users to help them settle into the game.

Finally, Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu expressed his interest in releasing a package version of The War of Genesis. While they currently lack the bandwidth due to their focus on The War of Genesis Mobile, he explained that they are considering a direction where they could bundle each part of The War of Genesis into a package if resources allow.

Q&A

I'm curious about the reason for choosing the Iron Mask as the fourth Outer One. In a way, the Iron Mask is toyed with by fate as he transitions from Part 1 to Part 2. If he tries to wash away his past mistakes, could that lead to Part 2? How are you resolving this issue?

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = It is difficult and cautious to answer as those parts are spoilers. It is something I have thought about a lot since last year. First, I have to talk about the story of Cosmos Saga Season 1: due to Heidelloon's actions, humanity has already perished, and all events have been digitized and stored in the Ark. In other words, the Mobius loop is already broken.

How to connect this broken loop to The War of Genesis Part 2 is the main content of the upcoming Cosmos Saga Season 2. In the current state, the characters of Antaria are destined for catastrophe, and the Iron Mask is one of the key figures who can change this causality.

Famous IPs like The War of Genesis attract users based on an existing fan base, but isn't it difficult to secure new users? What plans are you preparing to attract a generation that doesn't know The War of Genesis?

Director Nam Ki-ryong = That is a part I always worry about. First, our immediate goal is to show the original story to fans once again. So, we are primarily preparing for the existing fan base. Since many of our fans are at least in their 30s, it has been difficult to find an answer on how to get younger people to encounter the IP.

After much deliberation, The War of Genesis Mobile aims to approach this by refining its existing direction with higher quality while appealing to the IP in different ways. We are discussing this with Line Games, but it is still difficult to share details.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = Personally, because the past War of Genesis series was developed in a short time, there were too many settings that were insufficient or regrettable. I wonder if it would be accepted as-is by today's users, so we are trying our best to refine the holes to meet those standards.

The Iron Mask causes various incidents in the original work; will those events unfold as they did? Also, I know the last 1st-anniversary major update was very well-received and performed well. How much have you prepared for this 2.5th anniversary, and what results are you expecting?

Director Nam Ki-ryong = Marketing is being prepared steadily by Line Games. In terms of in-game content, the game itself has matured and has more content than it did at the 1st anniversary, so we want to give more to new and returning users. We set the rewards based on the ability of existing users to enjoy competitive content to some extent.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = The Iron Mask is a tragic character who worked very hard himself but ended up being used. He is in a situation where he regrets it and wants to undo it. However, if he just undoes it, the story of The War of Genesis won't move forward. Introducing the two Iron Masks earlier was a hint to coordinate this. I used the phrase 'adult's revenge' in the developer notes; didn't the beings who used the Iron Mask also have a heart for humanity at their core? The core of Season 2 is how the Iron Mask will deal with that once he knows the inside story.

You did a double casting for the voice actor; how did you direct them?

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = Voice actor Kim Hye-sung has been participating for a year and a half. Originally, the Iron Mask intervenes in many incidents with various identities, and by participating in that process, the actor himself is completely familiar with the story. And we have been discussing this continuously since last year ahead of this Cosmos Saga Season 2.

Voice actor Hong Si-ho hadn't worked with us since the original, so there were parts he had forgotten when we met after a long time. So, we reviewed the story together and reorganized the changed settings and developments for him.

After the 'Tushinjeonsaenggi' collaboration, I didn't see any content about collaborations in the developer notes or roadmap. Are there no plans for the future?

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = In a way, collaborations are necessary to recruit new users. However, the temperature difference with the existing user base is too large. So it's hard to decide easily.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = There are no plans for this year. We are aware of the reactions to collaboration characters. There are many concerns from users regarding how collaboration characters intervene in the story and world of The War of Genesis, and since competitive content is the main focus, we are very cautious. For now, we are focusing more on the internal stability of The War of Genesis. We are very worried and thinking about which IP can be melted into The War of Genesis world.

You mentioned that you are thinking about making the episodes released so far into a package; what direction are you envisioning?

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = Currently, the company situation doesn't have much bandwidth, but I thought it might become possible as voice and art resources accumulate. So I am continuing to talk to the CEO about it.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = We are currently at the stage of thinking that it could be commercially viable. While we don't have the development bandwidth for The War of Genesis Mobile service right now, we have already shown the ending of 2, and The Rhapsody of the West Wind is also ending soon. We have a desire to release it on Steam or consoles in a form where you can easily enjoy just the story by bundling them. It's another option to expand the IP to new users beyond existing ones. We want to show the story of The War of Genesis to users who haven't approached it because it's mobile, and this is a measure that came out while thinking about various plans.

Also, as everyone already knows, The Rhapsody of the West Wind is currently being prepared for a remaster by another company. We are watching this and looking forward to it. Like this, we intend to expand to other channels for existing War of Genesis users, not just a single mobile channel.

When do you plan to announce specific details related to that?

Director Nam Ki-ryong = I think it will be when The Rhapsody of the West Wind ends. Since we have been organizing things step by step while developing, it can be prepared relatively easily once the volume is complete. However, since we also have to prepare the story for the next part, it is difficult to say for sure.

You updated The Rhapsody of the West Wind by adding Cyrano as a previous Outer One. It was a very meaningful character and update from the original; what results did you achieve? Also, what results are you expecting this time?

Director Nam Ki-ryong = It's hard to say specifically, but I'm just happy that existing fans have praised every new Outer One release. Each time, the metrics for new and returning users have increased. In terms of numbers, the Black Prince was the best, but Cyrano was also quite good. As the Iron Mask, a major character in The War of Genesis 3, appears as an Outer One, we expect users who mainly enjoyed The War of Genesis 3 Part 1 and its subsequent stories to come this time.

When you introduced the Iron Mask, you said he was a character who projected the loop system; I'm curious what skills he will show. Especially since the Iron Mask in The War of Genesis 3 is one of the few strongest characters in the work, using various techniques including Asura-Pacheonmu. How do you intend to express this strength? Also, I'm curious about the plans for re-releasing and buffing other Outer Ones.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = I said Heidelloon is a character who hacks dimensions, but this Iron Mask's setting is the ability to turn back time. He uses Asura-Pacheonmu, of course. Originally, I tried to fix it because putting in other skills or having the Iron Mask's HP remain at 1 was fatal in terms of balance, but the dominant opinion internally was that it was absolutely not allowed. So we are thinking about a direction to balance it while maintaining those original gimmicks.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = We are conducting re-releases and buff patches for existing Outer Ones every time a new Outer One is released, and we will do the same this time.

Recently, works from the 90s to early 2000s are coming out as web novels or webtoons. I'm curious if The War of Genesis is preparing such projects.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = We want to do various things, and we are discussing them little by little. However, we are currently focusing on the game, and there is nothing in full-scale progress. If we do it, it seems like a web novel would be first, but we are at the stage of looking into this and that.

You are adding new idle content, the Error Rate Adjustment Bureau; I think inflation in consumption will follow as the acquisition of resources increases with idle content. How do you intend to adjust this?

Director Nam Ki-ryong = This is a part I really worried about. It's good for existing users to receive rewards comfortably, but inflation can inevitably occur. Especially since the main content of The War of Genesis Mobile is competitive content, the gap caused by this will be more sensitive.

However, mobile games show some characteristics of idle games, and I thought idle content was suitable for the platform, so I have been preparing it. Instead, I have been thinking about whether we should save it by supplementing other special resources in addition to the existing accumulated resources.

You mentioned a roadmap until 2027; I'm curious about the plans after that.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = I think it will take three years just to complete Part 1 and Part 2. Can I finish it all before I retire? (Laughs). I hope so.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = When I started developing The War of Genesis Mobile, I thought it would be good if I could at least finish the story of 2 well. Then we showed the story of 2, and we are about to finish The Rhapsody of the West Wind. As we do that, I think we can serialize Part 2 well now. First, the goal is to finish serializing Part 2, and I think about providing a foundation in mobile that can expand by thinking about The War of Genesis 4 and subsequent official numbering while servicing for 10 more years.

Currently, we are carrying the Cosmos Saga like a side story, but at some point, we will have to take the main story after Part 2 in a new direction. In that respect, I am thinking about it a lot.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = As an aside, I joined in September 2024 and heard about the Outer One story for the first time. And when asked what characters I was thinking of, I mentioned 6-7 protagonist-level characters, and it's already the 4th one. There is no problem until next year, but I'm worried from the year after next. I think I need to think about new Outer One candidates from next year.

Finally, please say a word to the users.

Director Nam Ki-ryong = While servicing The War of Genesis Mobile, I am always grateful and sorry to the users. We are working hard internally, but there were parts that met expectations and parts that did not. We are trying to improve the parts that did not meet expectations so that you can enjoy it, and since we are improving by looking at various community opinions, I hope you will continue to enjoy it

Especially for this 2.5th anniversary, we will unfold the new story of the Iron Mask and the Cosmos Saga, so I hope you enjoy this part too.

Narrative Director Choi Yeon-kyu = I always think that making games is really difficult. It's been 20 or 30 years, and it's still the same. I've heard a lot of painful words from users every time, and in the past, I really resented that. But as time passed, I realized I didn't know how to be grateful. I regretted it. I am always grateful for the support of the users, and I am always sorry that I did not meet your expectations. I will do my best to serialize The War of Genesis well and fill in the setting holes to complete it.