Patrik Méthé, former Ubisoft director, leads development of Project Windless, an action RPG based on Korean fantasy series The Bird That Drinks Tears. The game features a muscular Rekon rooster as the protagonist, a choice influenced by enthusiastic candidate feedback during hiring. Méthé was surprised by the positive fan reaction to the character's debut in a recent trailer.
Project Windless, developed by Krafton Montréal, adapts Lee Youngdo's popular South Korean high fantasy series The Bird That Drinks Tears into an open-world adventure with one-versus-many combat. Patrik Méthé, who spent over 13 years at Ubisoft working on titles like Far Cry, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell—starting with Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction in 2009 and ending with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Extraction in 2022—now serves as creative director.
Méthé joined the project after a LinkedIn message linked to an article describing it as the "Korean Witcher," sparking his interest despite Krafton's rights to the series being secured by its CEO, a noted fan. The Montreal studio was launched to leverage expertise in bringing the IP to Western audiences, granting the team significant freedom. Méthé, encountering the series for the first time via a rough English translation, described it as "so far from the tropes that we know from more Western culture" and "fresh."
The decision to center on the bird-like Rekon race, portraying a beefy rooster as the Hero King, emerged organically. During early hiring, every interviewed candidate expressed desire to play the character, saying things like, “No matter what, I hope I can play this character.” Méthé noted, “All of them. All of them—and we were like, ‘OK.'” The Rekon is the mightiest figure, allowing players to confront 30 enemies from the start, with progression unlocking abilities while emphasizing a legendary mindset.
The game emphasizes war as a core mechanic, with player actions impacting outcomes, alliances, and repelling the invading reptilian Nhaga army. Unlike checklists in open-world games, Project Windless prioritizes player freedom and resonant motivations for the protagonist and antagonist. Debuting at Sony’s State of Play on February 13, the trailer drew comparisons to God of War and Dynasty Warriors, but Méthé stressed differences, including creating one's own myth in a world where the Hero King's legend persists 1000 years later, though the sequence of events remains unknown.
Currently in pre-alpha after a few years of development, the team—a mix of veterans and newcomers—reacted emotionally to the trailer's reception. An English translation of The Bird That Drinks Tears releases in June.
