Development history
A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei has been in development since 2022 by CangMo Game Entertainment in Chengdu, China. The game grew from a six-person passion project into a PlayStation China Hero Project title with significant investment backing.
2019-2021: JianPo (Souls of Blades)
Liu Qiwei (离忧先生) was working at a casual games company when he saw the trailer for Lost Soul Aside, a solo-developed action game backed by Sony's China Hero Project. Inspired, he quit his job to independently develop Souls of Blades (JianPo, 剑魄), a Souls-like action RPG. It launched in Steam Early Access on September 30, 2019 and reached full release on September 22, 2021, published by CubeGame. It received Mostly Positive reviews (70% positive from 536 reviews).
2022: Studio founding and viral demo
CangMo Game Entertainment was established in 2022 in Chengdu with initial investment from Hometown Interactive (家乡互动), who took an approximately 14.2% equity stake. The team started with six people. They spent nine months building the first demo.
In March 2022, a 16-minute gameplay demonstration was posted on Bilibili. It accumulated over 6.49 million views, far exceeding expectations for an unknown studio. The game appeared at the Bilibili High-Energy Gaming Festival that year under the working title Project: Jinyiwei.
2023: Second demonstration
In January 2023, a 23-minute gameplay demonstration was shown during Bilibili's gaming year-end rankings livestream. The developer's upload reached over 430,000 views, while IGN China's re-upload hit 980,000 views. The footage showed expanded combat, traversal, and level design compared to the 2022 reveal.
2024: China Hero Project and ChinaJoy
As of January 2024, the studio still had approximately six members. In July 2024, CangMo joined Phase 3 of PlayStation's China Hero Project, receiving development support, technical resources, and global marketing from Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai.
The game was playable at ChinaJoy 2024 (July 26-29, Shanghai New International Expo Center), with a stage event on July 28. Sony and CangMo presented jointly on PlayStation Shanghai's stage with simultaneous Weibo livestreaming. Push Square's early reaction: "very scrappy" and "janky," but "there's something to build on."
In August 2024, Shanghai Yingche Network Technology Co. (上海英澈网络科技) acquired a 25.8% equity stake in a second funding round. CangMo also recruited the lead programmer from Shanghai Runmeng Network's game Yiwenlu Lunhui (乂闻录轮回), expanding technical capacity.
January 2026: Official re-reveal
On January 29-30, 2026, the game was re-revealed under its new title "A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei." The reveal included a gameplay trailer, 10 screenshots, and Steam/Epic Games Store page openings. Press coverage noted significant quality improvement over the ChinaJoy footage. Push Square asked "Has PlayStation Found Its Own Black Myth: Wukong?"
February 2026: Hands-on previews
Chinese media received approximately two-hour hands-on demo sessions in early 2026. IGN China's preview called the Heavenly Deduction system "the biggest surprise" and praised the level design density, but noted combat animation transitions still needed polish. Limbs "snapping" between positions during action transitions and excessive trembling during continuous hit reactions. The Gamersky reviewer called the combat system the most complex they had played in a non-indie game in ten years.