"We have our own excellent pfs design game, 'Counter-Terrorist/Elite'."
"We also have the evergreen Dota!"
"Our 'Escape Path' has been meticulously polished for two and a half years, and its quality is no less than 'Si Ming Zhan Hun'!"
"As long as we do a good job with promotion, increase sales, and have solid word-of-mouth, we can quickly dispel the shareholders' doubts."
Wilson analyzed seriously, "Now 'Escape Path' has entered the promotional phase. We'll start building hype now, and two weeks later, we'll launch and present a satisfactory report to the shareholders."
Everyone exchanged glances and whispered amongst themselves.
"It's feasible, I think it's feasible."
"This studio from Long Guo released three games in two months; they can't compete with us for market share right now."
"We should pay attention to Yu Bi; they are actively preparing for the promotion of 'Gu Dao Jing Yun'."
"Those insignificant Long Guo game manufacturers are not worth worrying about."
Bang bang bang—
G fat slammed his hand on the table, and the room fell silent.
"Wilson, I'm assigning the promotional work for 'Escape Path' to you."
"Boss, I..."
"You've been promoted to Vice President of Valve headquarters. Game liaison will be your responsibility."
"Thank you, boss!"
"William..."
G fat looked at the subordinate he had mentored, hesitated for a moment, and said faintly, "You will replace Wilson and be demoted to Steam. I hope you learn your lesson."
"Yes, boss!"
"Meeting adjourned, everyone back to work."
.......
Wilson returned to his workstation and immediately summoned the promotional team. With a wave of his hand, he posted the promotional CG for the new game, 'Escape Path', on major game forums.
Several trending topics were purchased.
The popularity of 'Go to the Moon' was directly suppressed to almost nothing.
This caused dissatisfaction among many loyal fans of Ling Jing, but their voices were too small, and their protests were drowned out by a flood of online trolls.
Meanwhile,
Tencent's new mobile game, 'CoD', was in full swing with its promotional efforts.
They had consecutively invested in four or five trending topics.
The accompanying text also implied a rip-off of their own online game: "I'm back, for those who can't return."
Below it, high-definition images of a cosplayed Ghost were also posted.
It was the kind of design that you could immediately tell was a copy, but you couldn't definitively prove it was copying your specific design.
Many netizens were drawn in.
"Holy crap! Did Old Thief collaborate with Tencent to develop the 'Si Ming Zhan Hun' mobile game?"
"Ghost, my Ghost, have you returned in a new outfit?"
"Damn! So excited!"
"First top-up six yuan, get a free Ghost? You're something else, Tencent!"
"Is it real? Why is Lu Li, Old Thief, not making any moves on Weibo?"
.......
Soon, netizens began to notice something was wrong.
Because the newly created official Weibo account for the mobile game had not followed Lu Li, nor had it @ mentioned Lu Li in this promotional video.
It was clear that this new mobile game had no relation to 'Si Ming Zhan Hun' or Ghost.
Tencent was shamelessly exploiting players' nostalgia.
Some netizens who learned the truth were furious!
They swarmed to the post and began to curse.
"Tencent, your appetite is too much!"
"Damn it, you made this character without collaboration? Isn't this blatant plagiarism?"
"Have some shame!"
"Ha, spit! Copycat dog!!"
"Maddening, consuming my Ghost, you son of a bitch!!"
.......
The netizens' angry curses came in waves, and the official Weibo account deleted one batch after another.
Then, another large group of paid commenters arrived.
"Looking forward to it, launch quickly!"
"Wow, the character art is so beautiful, it will definitely be a hit when it launches!!"
"Launch quickly, launch quickly, my Ghost!!"
......
Various shameless comments were moved to the top trending topics, and they couldn't be removed.
In the face of absolute wealth, these dissenting voices were insignificant.
Tencent's mobile game promotion department looked at Weibo, which had ten trending topics, and breathed a sigh of relief.
It was not easy to suppress the popularity of 'Go to the Moon' on this particular day.
Fortunately, by vaguely leveraging the Ghost IP, they had successfully ignited the discussion.
As expected, the only one who could defeat Old Thief was Old Thief himself.
Players who came for Ghost were enraged by this bait-and-switch promotion.
They immediately started cursing, and unexpectedly, there were indeed players who defended their idol.
The two sides were in a heated argument.
The discussion was full of heat.
There were still one or two months before the mobile game launched, and they had plenty of ways to milk the Ghost IP dry.
If you don't capitalize on this traffic bonus, I certainly will.
These are normal business practices.
Only players with free time paid attention to these public opinions and joined the arguments.
The big players would only focus on their work!
........
At the same time, at Tsinghua University.
In the supervisor's office.
Wang Lunshan, using his spare time, completed 'Go to the Moon'.
As the music ended, the old man took off his glasses and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with a tissue.
For three hours, he was fully immersed in the world that Lu Li had constructed for the players.
He also deeply understood Lu Li's insights on games from that day.
"The younger generation is indeed formidable!"
"The younger generation is indeed formidable!"
"Long Guo's game industry has hope for a curve-hugging overtake in the future!"
If he had any doubts about Lu Li and his team before, playing this game had completely dispelled them.
He believed that a designer capable of creating such a quality game possessed not only powerful talent but also a deep love for games.
Such individuals were perfectly suited to be among the first to venture into the burgeoning VR era.
This technology was currently being developed globally, and it would be released within three years at most, or one year at the shortest.
As technology advances, VR games are the trend of the future. Whether we can break through the blockade in the VR game field and seize the market will determine the future development of the national game industry.
With excitement, his hands trembled as he dialed Lu Li's personal number.
.......
When he received the call from Mr. Wang Lunshan, Lu Li was engrossed in making 'Dark Souls'.
To be honest,
His first reaction upon hearing that VR games would be released in the next few years was surprise. Since coming to this world, he hadn't paid much attention to its technological tree.
He had always assumed it was similar to Terra Star, where he had lived before.
Now it seemed there was still a gap of several decades.
At least on Terra Star, VR virtual games wouldn't be available for another thirty years.
When the old gentleman educated him on the knowledge of super nano-chips, he believed it. VR games could indeed be played within this lifetime on Blue Star.
Unless he died next year.
"VR... VR..."
Lu Li murmured to himself, contemplating what kind of games he should make to give players a thrilling experience once VR games were released.
He had asked the system.
It was possible to transform games from his past life into VR games, but the required resentment points were excessively high, and he didn't have the capability to collect that much at the moment.
However, this did not affect his future planning; one or two years would be enough to collect them.
Lu Li stroked his chin, looking at his desk, and said in a low voice:
"If it's VR, what games should I adapt?"
"'Halo'?"
"'Titanfall'?"
"Or perhaps 'Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice', 'Bloodborne'?"
"It seems they're still not quite 'knife' enough..."
.......