From three hours to live to a $15M gaming studio: How video games changed Serenity Forge founder Zhenghua Yang's life

Now 35, Yang is the founder of Serenity Forge, which has published around 70 titles, including the widely popular "Lifeless Planet" and "Doki Doki Literature Club." The studio employs more than 40 people and generates between US$10 million and $15 million annually.

Its mission, which he first jotted down between university lectures, was clear: "We create meaningful and emotionally impactful experiences that challenge the way you think."

That mission took shape in an unexpected way in 2008, when he started his first semester at the University of Illinois. Expecting a typical college experience, his life was upended on Halloween that year when a seemingly minor nosebleed escalated into a medical emergency, leaving his body critically low on blood platelets. Doctors told him he had only three hours to live. Yang survived the ordeal, but the recovery was grueling, with him spending the next two years in and out of hospitals.

Gaming studio Serenity Forge founder Zhenghua Yang. Photo courtesy of Yang

During this physically and mentally demanding period, Yang found solace in video games such as League of Legends, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft, which helped him cope with isolation and pain.

Through the gaming community, Yang connected with a player who recommended a renowned hematologist. He credits the medical researcher’s advice with saving his life, but still does not know the player’s real name, he said in a 2016 interview with Colorado Public Radio.

"Games like League of Legends weren’t really made to help me, but in the end, they basically saved my life," Yang recalled in a recent interview with Fortune. This experience sparked a question in his mind: What if he could create games designed to help others? "What kind of power would that be able to unlock?" he thought then.

In pursuit of this vision, Yang transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder to study business before founding Serenity Forge in 2014. For Yang, success is not defined by the number of copies sold or revenue earned, but by the impact his games have on others.

"There will be all these fans, teenagers, that would line up, talk to me," he said. "They will cry, they would give me hugs and tell me, ‘you’re the reason that I realized that I was in an abusive relationship and I’m now way healthier and way happier because of the art that you created.’" This, he said, is what drives him more than anything else, far beyond profit margins or employee counts.

Yang’s advice to fellow founders is simple: fail often, and do it quickly. In the crowded game development industry, where thousands of studios vie for attention and only a select few break through, learning to navigate failure with speed and deliberation is crucial.

With over 3 billion players worldwide and revenues reaching $184 billion in 2024, gaming remains a massive global industry. However, studios are facing challenges such as post-pandemic market corrections, layoffs, and rising development costs.

New technologies like generative AI, mixed reality, and cloud infrastructure are reshaping how games are made and played, with players demanding more meaningful, social, and customizable experiences, according to a report by N-iX Games.

Serenity Forge, too, has faced its share of obstacles, with Yang acknowledging that not every game the studio produces has been a hit. Nevertheless, he emphasized that what founders can control is how they respond to setbacks, ideally with diligence and discipline.

"Life can be complicated," Yang said. "When you’re starting a business to do things, be as nuanced as you can about it, and try to keep an open mind about the realities of the world."

For him, staying true to his company’s core mission is non-negotiable. His commitment to pushing the world forward with creative and emotionally resonant gaming experiences means he is willing to turn down lucrative opportunities that do not align with that vision.

A quote from John Mackey, the cofounder and former CEO of Whole Foods, has resonated deeply with Yang: "Just as people cannot live without eating, so a business cannot live without profits. But most people don’t live to eat, and neither must a business live just to make profits."