- Aeos aims for global quality, inspiring Indian game development.
If you ask me, Unleash The Avatar occupies a curious space in Indian gaming. It was one of the industry’s most talked-about projects despite the fact that very few people had actually seen substantial gameplay. The promise was certainly ambitious: a premium action RPG rooted in Indian mythology, developed by a homegrown studio with global aspirations.
Now, following Aeos Games’ extended gameplay reveal, the conversation is finally shifting from hype to substance.
The trailer showcased a cinematic boss fight packed with parries, dodges, avatar powers and spectacular visual flourishes. Unsurprisingly, comparisons to Chinese blockbuster Black Myth: Wukong followed almost immediately. But according to Rohan Mayya, CEO and co-founder of Aeos Games, the studio is comfortable with those comparisons even if they don’t tell the whole story.
“I think there will always be competition and popular genres,” Mayya told ABP Live English. Drawing parallels from the action RPG market, he pointed to the rivalry between Diablo and Path of Exile 2. “Diablo was considered king, but PoE2’s great innovations make it a breath of fresh air. Similarly, I think we have a lot of Bollywood flair (with many over-the-top moves) that helps, but we also have deep systems, and a certain type of player will appreciate that.”
While many players have labelled Unleash The Avatar as India’s answer to Black Myth: Wukong, Mayya revealed that the team’s primary inspirations lie elsewhere. “As for the comparison to Wukong, we welcome that. By the way, it’s not even our primary inspiration when making the game; we like Sekiro/Khazan more.”
Why Aeos Abandoned Modern-Day India
Rohan (L) and Varun Mayya, the brothers co-founders of Aeos Games
One of the biggest changes during development involved the game’s setting. Earlier footage showcased a more contemporary Indian environment. The latest reveal, however, presents a vibrant mythological world where Earth and Naraka collide, unleashing Rakshasas and Asuras upon humanity.
“It’s tough,” Mayya admitted when talking about the shift. “A lot of work went into the photogrammetry scans of those modern assets and all the surrounding level work.”
The studio eventually concluded that modern-day environments were limiting the game’s immersive potential. “We quickly course-corrected because we realised games need to be immersive, and I don’t think people wanted to be immersed in current-day India (especially in a slum setting).”
For a first-time studio operating with limited resources, abandoning months of work could have been risky. Mayya, however, sees the discarded material as part of the learning process.
“Nothing is wasted though, because creating that vertical slice teaches us a lot. You can only make something better after it exists!”
‘Games Have Become Too Serious’
Perhaps the most interesting part of Aeos Games’ philosophy is its belief that the Soulslike genre has become overly grim. Many recent entries lean heavily into dark fantasy, gothic architecture and oppressive atmospheres. Aeos wants to go in the opposite direction.
“I think games have become too serious,” Mayya said. “Every other soulslike game features a gothic theme, a dark on-screen setting, and a dreary backdrop.”
Instead, Unleash The Avatar embraces colour, spectacle and exaggerated combat sequences inspired as much by Bollywood blockbusters as traditional action RPGs. “We wanted to make our game more vibrant as shown in the trailer, incorporating the flair and over-the-top moves seen in a Bollywood movie.”
According to Mayya, that approach is already resonating internationally. “I think people really appreciate this, as seen with the massive traction in China and other social platforms.”
Why Aeos Is Pushing Back Against The AI Trend
At a time when game studios around the world are increasingly embracing generative AI tools, Aeos has taken a notably cautious stance.
The reason, according to Mayya, is simple. “My honest answer is that generative AI is not very good yet.” The studio experimented with the technology but found its output lacking, particularly in creative disciplines.
“We have explored it, but it’s just not good at tasks like art, and it lacks personality.”
The criticism extends to coding tools as well. “Our lead engineer has a strict policy against using an agent like Codex or Claude Code to run rampant on the codebase because it creates such a mess that cleaning it up later becomes a pain.”
That doesn’t mean AI has no place in the studio’s workflow. “It is however, getting very good at repetitive tasks. We use it for simple tasks such as mass-renaming files, retargeting, profiling etc.”
Unleash The Avatar Release Delayed To 2027
The gameplay reveal also brought an important update regarding the game’s launch window. While earlier expectations pointed toward 2026, Aeos is now targeting a release sometime in 2027.
“We want to take our time crafting a polished experience with no compromises,” Mayya said. The studio believes content production has become increasingly efficient. The larger challenge now lies elsewhere.
“The real challenge is the enormous amount of QA between now and then, and simultaneously marketing parts of the game, so we need to be extraordinarily consistent.”
More Than Just An Indian Game
Success for Unleash The Avatar won’t be measured purely in sales. Mayya says commercial performance matters, but the studio is also chasing something larger: proving that ambitious game development can thrive in India, and this author thinks that is somewhat more important right now.
“We want to make something audacious. It’s important because it inspires more people in the country to try such things.” He points to China’s gaming industry as an example of what sustained ambition can achieve. “The film industry in India is booming, we want the same for games. More people should make more games at a faster rate. That’s what China did with games, and look where they are now!”
Ultimately, however, Mayya doesn’t want Unleash The Avatar to be remembered merely as a successful Indian title. “The latter,” he said when asked whether he’d rather be known for making a great Indian game or simply a great game.
“While it’s important that we want to lean on our culture, the quality bar is still very high. We can only compete if we can match the remaining players on the global stage.”
That may be the biggest takeaway from Aeos Games’ latest reveal. The studio isn’t asking players to support Unleash The Avatar because it’s Indian. It wants players to support it because it’s good. Whether it can ultimately deliver on that promise remains to be seen, but for the first time, the project looks less like a bold idea and more like a serious contender.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
