Age of Wushu Dynasty is an upcoming mobile MMO heavily influenced by the fictional Chinese martial arts world of Jianghu.

You'll recognise that world from films like House of Flying Daggers, which reveals a heavily-stylised version of Chinese culture and martial arts.

However, there are many elements of Chinese and Asian culture which have influenced the development of Age of Wushu Dynasty, and we've reached out to Choc Qian, Senior Marketing Manager at Snail Games, to discuss them in greater detail.

What's the inspiration behind the visual design of Age of Wushu Dynasty?

"The visual design is heavily based on real life because we really want you to have as vivid an experience as possible.

"Our studio is based in Suzhou - a famous city from antiquity - so we wanted it to play a major role in the game.

"Suzhou is an iconic city, with traditional architecture and canals melding seamlessly with city streets. We used real locations from the old district of Suzhou to recreate the Suzhou players will visit in the game.

"What’s more, we really wanted to capture the aesthetics of the time and place in which these stories were set, so many of the weapons and clothing styles are also drawn from real-life historical accounts and artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, albeit with a stylized fantasy spin."

Was it inspired by any films? Which ones?

"Of course - films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon gave us a lot of inspiration, but what we learn from these films was how to make the idea of Jianghu culture easier for players to understand.

"In fact, the film itself draw inspiration from our primary influence - famous martial arts fiction series written by Jin Yong.

"Jin Yong is a born writer, he creates a unique Jianghu fantasy world in his books and almost everyone read his books during grade-school.

"In many ways our games have been heavily influenced by Jin Yong's books."

Which is your favourite of the four martial arts schools in the game?

"Shaolin. Almost every Kung Fu fan dreams of learning Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple.

"Throughout the history of Chinese Kung Fu, Shaolin has become a symbol of authentic Chinese martial arts. Shaolin's bowstaff and unique appearance are really a highlight among the various schools.

"People also admire the morality and justice of Shaolin, and their creed "Praise Virtue and Punish Vice."

In which territory do you think Age of Wushu Dynasty will be most popular and why?

"That's a tough question to answer. Our original intention was for Age of Wushu Dynasty to be just like our PC game, Age of Wushu.

"It's designed so that our players will experience a world of martial arts, so those who are interested in the culture will definitely find it appealing.

"For a number of cultural and stylistic reasons, I would imagine it's easier for Asian players to understand and accept the concept and themes of the "Jianghu" world in our game, but I think you will have a great experience no matter where you're from."

What are your future plans for Age of Wushu Dynasty?

"We will certainly release new updates and publish more content like new schools.

"At the moment, four schools are available for players to choose from, and we plan to introduce another four schools in future updates, each with their own unique appearance and play style.

"Aside from schools, new features, skills, gameplay modes, and other features will also be added in order to build a full view of Jianghu for martial arts fans from all around the world."

Age of Wushu Dynasty is heading to iOS and Android in January 2016.