Lies of P Developer Neowiz Trademarks Wonders of O in Apparent Soulslike Sequel Tease

By CriticalPixel · 2026-09-14

Neowiz just gave Lies of P fans their first real hint about what happens next, and it is not subtle. On September 10, the Korean publisher filed a European Union trademark for something called Wonders of O, and the filing spells out plainly what kind of project this is meant to be.

Lies of P combat screenshot showing Pinocchio fighting an enemy with a bladed weapon

The application, filed under number 019420678 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, lists goods and services covering virtual reality game software, interactive multimedia software for playing games, and computer game software downloadable over a global network, the exact kind of language publishers use when they are locking down a name well ahead of an announcement. Neowiz is listed as the sole owner of the mark, filed through the Munich office of law firm Page White Farrer, with the application currently sitting under examination across Nice classes 9 and 41, the categories that cover both game software and online entertainment services.

Eurogamer was first to connect the dots between the filing and Lies of P, noting the trademark's language points squarely at a video game release rather than merchandise or a mobile spinoff. It would not be the first hint at a follow-up either. Neowiz confirmed back in May that a sequel to the 2023 soulslike was already in full development, well before any trademark surfaced.

What Neowiz Has Already Teased

An August documentary about the studio went further, with developers describing the next project as going to be emotionally heavier than the original game, a notable shift for a studio whose first release leaned harder on combat than story. The documentary also detailed Nough, an internal team at Round8 Studio dedicated to testing and refining builds before release, part of a broader push toward a more polished follow-up rather than a rushed sequel cashing in on the original's success. That extra layer of testing suggests Neowiz wants the sequel judged on more than a strong opening week, a lesson plenty of live service disasters this generation still have not learned. Director Choi Jiwon told fans in that same documentary that the team is giving the project everything it has and asked players to wait a little longer, a fittingly on brand line for a studio that built its first game around the theme of lying.

Reading the Name

Lies of P retold Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio as a grim soulslike set in the fictional city of Krat, and the P in the title was never subtle. Wonders of O leans into the same trick, and the obvious guess is L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, especially since the original game's post credits scene dropped in a character who looked a lot like Dorothy. Whether Wonders of O ends up a direct narrative sequel to Lies of P or a standalone game set in the same universe is still unclear from the filing alone, since trademark paperwork does not come with plot summaries attached.

Lies of P screenshot of the gothic city of Krat environment

How Lies of P Got Here

The original Lies of P launched in September 2023 as a scrappy underdog next to genre veterans, and it outperformed expectations enough to justify a real sequel budget instead of a quick mobile cash grab wearing the name. It was not a flawless debut either. Eurogamer's own review at launch called out strong foundations in its edgy tone and tweaked weapons while noting it was unlikely to beat the games that inspired it at their own formula. The game also picked up nominations during that year's awards season, cementing Round8 Studio as more than a one-off success story in a genre dominated by much larger teams.

Fans Are Already Running With It

Reaction across gaming social media has been enthusiastic but speculative, since nobody outside Neowiz actually knows what Wonders of O plays like yet. Multiple replies under the GameSpot and Eurogamer posts jumped straight into fairy tale guessing games, floating names like Tides of Q and Oliver Twist as jokes about where the alphabet trick goes next. Other commenters focused on gameplay instead, wondering whether Round8 Studio sticks with the soulslike combat that made the first game a surprise hit or pushes the sequel toward something more ambitious, in line with what the August documentary teased. A few replies leaned skeptical too, noting that trademark filings have burned fans before when studios abandon projects quietly years later without ever confirming why. With only a handful of public reactions so far, it is fair to call the mood curious rather than a verdict on the game itself.

The CriticalPixel Take

A trademark filing is not a trailer, and publishers register names for projects that quietly die in development more often than fans want to admit. But Neowiz has more credibility here than most studios chasing hype off a legal document. Lies of P landed in 2023 as a scrappy Korean soulslike nobody expected to compete with genre veterans, and it did well enough to earn a real sequel instead of a cheap spinoff wearing the name. If Round8 Studio is spending this long between games and still describing the follow-up as emotionally bigger, that beats another rushed annual release dressed up as a fresh start. The real test is whether Wonders of O gets an actual reveal instead of sitting in trademark limbo for another year while Neowiz milks the guessing game for free social buzz.

Eurogamer floated The Game Awards as a plausible venue for a first look, which lines up with when publishers typically cash in trademark speculation for a real trailer. Until then, all anyone has is a filing number, a law firm in Munich, and a title that reads like a sequel to a fairy tale nobody finished reading.