{"rewrite":{"id":"r_8bd7da6680b80cc0adf62f27","clusterId":"c_61d6768de56ee7b6ecdb36a4","slug":"kusan-city-of-wolves-dev-cites-hotline-miami-and-john-wick","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Kusan: City of Wolves Dev Cites Hotline Miami and John Wick","summary":"CIRCLEfromDOT CEO Jung-kyu Yeom says Kusan: City of Wolves began from a single question: what if a cyborg John Wick dove into Hotline Miami? The Busan studio, founded in 2018, released the hardcore top-down shooter on July 31 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch, priced at 1,900 yen. It has 54 stages, Japanese support, and a former soldier named Jin as its lead.","whyItMatters":"The interview lays out the design target plainly: a top-down action game built to recreate John Wick's rapid weapon switching, with Hotline Miami as the reference point the developer returns to whenever the fun needs checking.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eYeom describes the concept as simple: the player becomes the protagonist of a top-class action movie. Two systems carry that idea. The War Hand, a cybernetic arm, punches and deflects bullets. The Quantum Knife attacks surrounding enemies while the player does something else.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe is clear that flashy combat is not the point. The goal is for players to read the battlefield, plan, execute, and improve by trial and error. The thrill, he says, is the moment a stage that seemed impossible becomes something you can dash through quickly and stylishly. A single hit means death.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"CIRCLEfromDOT's Jung-kyu Yeom on Kusan: City of Wolves: the pitch was a cyborg John Wick in Hotline Miami. The top-down shooter is out now on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch for 1,900 yen.","twitterPost":"Kusan: City of Wolves started from one question, says CIRCLEfromDOT's Jung-kyu Yeom: what if a cyborg John Wick dove into Hotline Miami? The hardcore top-down shooter is out now for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch at 1,900 yen.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"CIRCLEfromDOT CEO Jung-kyu Yeom explains where Kusan: City of Wolves came from: a cyborg John Wick dropped into Hotline Miami. The Busan studio released the top-down shooter on July 31 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch at 1,900 yen. Yeom says the real goal is planning and trial and error, not flashy combat.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Game Spark\",\"url\":\"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/10/23/173997.html\",\"title\":\"What if a cyborg John Wick dove into the world of Hotline Miami? Hardcore shooter \\\"Kusan: City of Wolves\\\" [Developer Interview]\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4673,"outputTokens":644,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1792749139,"createdAt":"2026-10-23T09:48:34.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T09:51:10.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T09:51:10.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_61d6768de56ee7b6ecdb36a4","canonicalTitle":"「もしサイボーグのジョン・ウィックが『Hotline Miami』の世界に飛び込んだらどうなるだろう？」ハードコアシューター『Kusan: オオカミの街』【開発者インタビュー】","representativeArticleId":"a_abf249e93ea704f6cc25f72e","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Kusan: City of Wolves\"],\"studios\":[\"CIRCLEfromDOT\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"review\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-23T08:30:04.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-23T08:30:04.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T09:51:07.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Game Spark","url":"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/10/23/173997.html","title":"「もしサイボーグのジョン・ウィックが『Hotline Miami』の世界に飛び込んだらどうなるだろう？」ハードコアシューター『Kusan: オオカミの街』【開発者インタビュー】"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Kusan: City of Wolves"],"studios":["CIRCLEfromDOT"],"people":[],"type":"review","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}