Developed by a duo, the open-world sandbox RPG, The Bustling World, set in ancient China, was recently unveiled. The game is slated for release on Steam in Q4 2024, and its Steam page is already live. The developers have also initiated a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, with the goal of raising USD 80,000 by February 13.

Meanwhile, via an official response to player queries on Bilibili, it was revealed that the development of the game is approximately 70% complete. The team is aiming to release a demo around mid-2024. They assured players that there is no need to worry about the project being abandoned, emphasizing their commitment to seeing it through. It was also disclosed that the game's setting primarily revolves around the Tang and Song dynasties, spanning across various historical periods, including the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

According to the game's official Steam description,

The Bustling World is an open-world RPG game set in ancient China. You can farm, breed, craft, build, fight, kill, establish a regime, run a country, conduct diplomacy, wage war, create a city… Openness, freedom and limitless are the most important features of the game.

The Bustling World does not follow a predetermined path of development. Everything in the world will “think and decide” its own “behavior” based on the player’s actions.

The residents in the game have their own lives, families, personalities and social relationships. They will think and decide their own actions: work at home, go to work, go out for entertainment, relocate to other cities for money, avenge their families, escape from war, etc. These actions are determined by the NPC’s personality, family and the player’s actions. For example, if you offend some people with bad temper, they may sabotage your shop.

As a result, the cities in the game are also in dynamic change. NPC residents will decide where to live, what kind of house to build, and what type of shop to run. NPC regimes will also consider their relationship with each city, whether to establish diplomacy, trade or wage war, etc. When you return to a city you left many years ago, it may become unfamiliar.

World and Resident AI will give you unique responses to every action and decision, making every new game experience unique for the player.