I spoke with Loftia's founders about the Early Access game's unexpected social media success and plans for the future.

When Loftia first started gaining attention on TikTok in 2022, it was little more than a hobby project. Its graphics were rough, its world was small, and its creators, Michael Su and Martina Qin, had no idea that their project would go on to attract hundreds of thousands of followers.

Inspired by childhood favorites like Club Penguin and MapleStory, the pair wanted to create the kind of online world they had grown up loving. Somewhere for players to make friends, decorate their homes, and simply enjoy spending time together.

After a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $3 million and a few more years of development, Loftia finally entered Early Access on November 3. I spoke with the co-founders of Qloud Games about the game's unexpected social media success, its nostalgic inspirations, and their hopes for its future.

Neither Su nor Qin expected Loftia to become the project it is today. Su initially built a small prototype using his software engineering experience, while Qin suggested sharing their progress online.

"We never imagined that it would blow [up] as so many people would start following our journey," Su says. "We just started talking and documenting the whole process because we just wanted to do it for ourselves, and somehow along the way, so many people joined us as well."

As their videos gained traction, the pair watched their Instagram and TikTok followings grow from thousands into the hundreds of thousands.

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