[Gamescom 2025] "Come to 'Not A Loan,' a third-generation social network game brimming with communication and empathy, filled with excitement."
- modlestudios
- Sep 23
- 4 min read
At 'Gamescom 2025', one of the world's top three game shows, held in Cologne, Germany from August 20th to 24th (local time), We met 'Not Alone', a next-generation SNG that allows you to communicate and empathize with various people.
'Not Alone', which was exhibited at the Korea Joint Pavilion booth prepared by the Korea Creative Content Agency to promote excellent Korean indie games to the world, It is a sandbox-style crafting game developed by Modle Studio, where you can decorate a hex-tile island in your own way. The game features the protagonist being stranded on an unfamiliar island and continuing a healing island life with various friends.
How does this game, called the third-generation SNG, lead people around the world to communicate and empathize with each other? We met with Bonseok Koo, CEO of Modle Studio, to hear more about 'Not Alone'.
Below is the full interview with Bonseok Koo, CEO of Modle Studio, the developer of 'Not Alone'.
(Q: Game Dong-A / A: Representative Koo Bon-seok)
Q : Could you give us a brief explanation of 'Not Alone'?
A : The main goal of this game is to decorate your own island. It expands using hex tiles.
Users can decorate their own islands in various ways, such as collecting materials and putting them in production buildings to develop them. Strictly speaking, the genre is a SNG (social network game), but it is also close to a farm game. Here, you can interact with other users and NPCs.
Because it is structured to encourage active communication, I call 'Not Alone' a third-generation SNG.
Q : What led you to create "Not Alone"? How did you come to create this game?
A : I think this game very well demonstrates the communication and empathy that SNGs possess. In fact, early SNGs were centered around social features. It was a game that existed, but social services started blocking it as they were processing it as spam. So it became a social game without social elements.
It ended. Since then, the town games have continued the legacy of SNG, albeit in a small way. After that, Minecraft, which is called the metaverse, Sandbox games like 'Roblox' are gaining popularity, and I think the reason these sandbox games are popular is because they allow for individuality, I think it's because there's an open window where people can express their own content, and they can communicate and empathize with each other. I think that's also true. I wanted to create a game that has appeal, a game that gives people something new and exciting every time they come in, a game that makes them excited every time they log in.
We are working hard to make it.
Q : What kind of cooperative content can users enjoy in 'Not Alone'?
A : In 'Not Alone', you communicate with NPCs and other users... everything is made up of communication. We work together for a week to clear a common quest, and we also gather resources together while completing various quests. There's also supply and demand. Beyond cooperation, there's also content where you compete with each other for points. For example, you and a friend can trade items you can't produce together after achieving a target, or you can complete multi-missions and even ongoing missions. That's why I said it's a game that makes you excited every time you log in in the morning, wondering, "What fun will happen today?" or "Who's coming to see me?"
Q : How many people are on the development team? How did you finance the development?
A : We've recruited many excellent developers with the goal of creating a game that will be in service for over 10 years. I wanted to create a game with a warm overall visual appeal and a sense of individuality. We started with about five people, but now have a total of 23 employees. We received seed funding from companies like Haegin, Kakao Games, and Wemade Connect when we launched, and last year, we secured 2 billion won in venture capital funding, expanding our development budget.
Q : What are your plans for future game services?
A : My primary goal is to work with a major publisher. I believe scaling up is limited.
Last year at G-Star, there were contact points for overseas game companies, and at this Gamescom, we met with more overseas publishers and had various opportunities.
We plan to listen to feedback. If we can't connect with a major publisher, we plan to partner with UA marketing companies to launch a global service. If the code doesn't work out, we plan to slowly scale up and launch the service independently. Having personally worked in global performance marketing for over a decade, I'm confident in analyzing KPIs and successfully increasing monthly sales.
Q : When do you expect the official release date to be?
A : Most of the functionality has been implemented. Now, simple volume-up and optimization work remain. We expect to launch official service in April next year.
Q : I'm curious about your assessment of the current game's performance (and its expected post-launch metrics). I'm also curious about why you believe it can achieve such results, and whether you have any reference projects to base your assessment on. If you have any previous references, please tell us how they differ from those projects and why you believe they will be more special.
A : "Not Alone" is targeting monthly sales of approximately 3 billion won. We're targeting the global market, not the domestic one. We compared it to "Township," which is generating approximately 20 billion won in monthly sales. Europe and North America are our primary targets, and our goal is to enter the top 100. Currently, the game is a mobile version, but we plan to develop a PC version in the future.
Q : Finally, please give us some comments on what users can expect.
A : There are so many great games coming out these days, but I think it's become increasingly difficult to find excitement within them. From the moment I first conceived "Not Alone," I wanted to provide people with ample healing and excitement. We will create a space where people can communicate and share their emotions, along with their pounding hearts. Please remember "Not Alone."
