Behind the Scenes at Azra Games: An Exclusive Look at Our Journey
As 2024 draws to a close and 2025 begins, we at Azra Games are excited to share the incredible progress our team has made in bringing Project Legends to life. Last year has been an intense period of innovation, growth, and hard work, and during a recent fireside chat with our VP of Growth, Ken Walton, we peeled back the curtain to share where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
The Production Phase: Building at Lightning Speed
Ken kicked things off by detailing the current state of development: hardcore production mode. With core systems like the battle mechanics already in place, the team has turned its focus to rapidly building out new characters, biomes, and landscapes. The recent V0.3 build, completed in mid-December, represents a major milestone.
“It’s about an hour of gameplay with cinematic cutscenes, and it feels like playing a high-fidelity PC or console game — on your phone,” Ken shared.
Optimized for modern devices, this build showcases the incredible visual fidelity of Project Legends while giving players a glimpse of its evolving world and intuitive mobile controls.
Looking Ahead: Playtests and Global Strategy
As we approach the game’s launch next year, Azra is preparing for a series of five global playtests throughout 2025. These tests will serve key purposes:
- Tech stack validation
- Player retention analysis (day-one, day-14, and day-30 metrics)
- Monetization and blockchain integration
Unlike the earlier beta available to holders, these playtests represent significant leaps in quality and scale. Ken also teased that these releases would be limited to specific app stores in select countries, ensuring we fine-tune every aspect before the big day.
Azra Austin: A Second Hub for Talent and Speedd
One of the most exciting announcements from the chat was the expansion of Azra Games with a new studio in Austin, Texas.
“Austin is a hub for incredible game development talent, and the team there has already started accelerating our progress immensely,” Ken revealed.
Under the leadership of Jeff Hickman, a gaming veteran with a storied history (including Star Wars: The Old Republic and Warhammer Online), the Azra Austin studio is poised to help bring Project Legends to market faster than ever.
Big Hires and Big Names
While remaining tight-lipped on specifics, Ken hinted at an exciting addition to the team: a well-known writer with experience on household-name IPs. This secretive hire has worked on beloved comic book franchises with ties to major streaming platforms, and their involvement could open doors to exciting future opportunities, possibly even in TV adaptations.
Why We’ve Gone Quiet
A noticeable change for our community has been the reduction in sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes updates. This decision was deliberate. As Ken explained:
“Our intellectual property has reached a level of uniqueness and quality that we want to protect. The risk of someone copying our innovations before launch is real, especially in a competitive RPG space dominated by rapid development in Asia.”
Expect bigger reveals closer to launch when it’s too late for others to replicate what we’ve built.
Focus, Teamwork, and the Road Ahead
The past months have been marked by an unprecedented level of dedication from the Azra team. Ken likened the effort to a “civilian war,” with the entire team rallying together, working weekends, and making significant sacrifices to hit ambitious milestones.
“The pace we’re moving at now would have taken us six to eight months in the past,” Ken said. “The team has truly risen to the challenge.”
A Thank You to Our Community
As we head into the holidays, Ken took a moment to thank our dedicated supporters.
“We love you guys. Your faith in Azra Games means everything to us. Trust me when I say there’s something really, really good coming.”
We’ll be back in January with more updates and new reveals. For now, we’re focused on bringing you a game that will redefine expectations for mobile RPGs.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Stay tuned — 2025 is going to be a monumental year for Azra Games and Project Legends.