Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 18 Violating the Rules
The negotiations between Tencent and NetEase did not last long.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chu Chen successfully saw off these two groups of uninvited experts.

The once bustling conference room was now empty except for Chu Chen and Song Yueying. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the floor.

Song Yueying breathed a soft sigh of relief.

Although she didn't do anything in the meeting room, it's natural to feel nervous when you're sitting across from Tencent and NetEase.

People who can be as completely relaxed as Chu Chen are, after all, a minority.

"Sixty million, thirty percent of the shares... and you just rejected it like that?"

The meeting room was empty, and Song Yueying couldn't help but check again.

"Yes, I declined."

"Why? Didn't you keep saying you wanted to dig a moat, expand, and solidify your advantage? This money is just being handed to you."

Chu Chen smiled.

"As for money, I have enough for now. Besides, if I really need money, there are plenty of ways to make it. There's no need to sell myself now."

Chu Chen is happy to accept funding if the conditions are right, as long as he can maintain absolute control over Xingchen.

But that time is definitely not now.

"Then why are you asking them for internal management documents?"

Song Yueying was a little puzzled.

"You wanted to visit and learn from them. I thought you were really moved by their sincerity."

"I really want to learn. It can't hurt to see how big companies manage people and projects," Chu Chen said frankly. "As for money... that's not what we're lacking right now."

Song Yueying blinked: "Then what's missing?"

"We lack people, we lack people who can truly work together to make things bigger, we lack people who share our goals."

"What goal?"

"Make fun games, make fun games that everyone can enjoy playing!"

"You call this a goal?"

"How can this not be called a goal?"

For Chu Chen, people are definitely more important than money.

Why did so many game companies in the past collapse despite a great start?
In essence, it all boils down to one sentence: people's hearts have fallen apart.

Take the flash explosion of "Gun Girls" as an example. In the previous life, after the success of "Gun Girls", its founder replaced almost all the main creative executives in less than a year.

They bought back all the shares and put them in their own hands.

This series of actions certainly enabled him to achieve personal financial freedom and completely control Flashbang. No one else would share the profits with him anymore; all the money he earned was his.

But all these operations come at a cost.

During the golden age of anime-style games, titles like Arknights, Azur Lane, and Honkai Impact 2, if not thriving, were at least doing quite well.

Even if some players leave, they will occasionally go back to check it out when there is a major version update.

The loss of "Gun Girl" is the only real loss.

When Flashbang reappeared in everyone's sight, it was already 24 years later with the official sequel, Girls: Exiled. And this so-called official sequel...
Although it became a hit, it self-destructed.
Chu Chen understood perfectly.

Developing games is not a one-person job. Even though he is currently carrying out "Final Front" all by himself, he doesn't want to die suddenly on the job.

Then he needs more people to help him.

Upon hearing this, Song Yueying glanced at Chu Chen and asked a question.

"Then would I be considered a like-minded partner?"

Chu Chen paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Of course it counts. If it weren't for you, I might not have continued down this path." That sounded quite normal.

However, Song Yueying felt her ears inexplicably burning.

"So cheesy?"

She deliberately covered half of her face with a folder, only revealing her squinting eyes.

"Alright, I'll call everyone in for a meeting..."

~~~
For a game company, or for any company in general.

Meetings are actually a normal occurrence.

After all, for all managers, team management methods are nothing more than meetings, assessments, and incentives. Meetings are for output and for unifying thinking, while assessments and incentives are for verifying execution.

Chu Chen was the same.

However, compared to others, Chu Chen's meetings were much more efficient.

He will clearly state the purpose of the meeting when he holds it, and he will also be very efficient.

Like today's meeting.

The goal is to thoroughly explain the world-building concept of "Silence" in the game "Final Front".

Unlike many game studios, when Chu Chen explained this setting and gameplay, he would basically gather all the main creators together for a meeting.

After all, the world-building and gameplay will cover almost every aspect of the game; art, writing, and gameplay design all need to be developed based on the world-building.

If we cannot ensure that everyone understands.

This can easily lead to situations where the main storyline and the subplots completely diverge or become completely unrelated.

For example, in the previous game, "The God of Destruction," a story set against the backdrop of an impending world destruction, the game showed almost no related content.

Cough
That seems to have gone a bit off-topic.

all in all.

The reason a team is called a team is because everyone needs to reach a consensus on certain points.

This is especially important in "Final Front".

Although the current "Final Front" focuses on gameplay, Chu Chen's plan is that "Final Front" will eventually return to its storyline.

Looking at the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) market as a whole, there are actually very clear stages.

In the first stage, games like Kantai Collection and Kantai Collection R didn't have very deep gameplay or even a storyline in the conventional sense; they relied on character illustrations and various character designs.

This will make players shout "wife!" and then spend money.

However, this method of relying solely on character illustrations is destined to be short-lived.

Chu Chen was well aware that the issue of players paying for anime-style games was inherently delicate, because anime-style games, unlike traditional games, could not profit by exploiting human weaknesses.

In most cases, the payment in anime-style games is essentially an emotional payment, a typical example being the marriage ring system found in most anime-style games.

This kind of payment system is actually a product of the development of online games to this day.

It has the best reputation, relatively high profitability, and is the most acceptable payment method for players.

After all, a wedding ring is essentially a way of paying for one's own emotions.

But the biggest challenge in getting players to pay for emotions, or rather, for love, is getting them into the story.

Why did major anime and manga games suddenly become disastrous 24 years after the events of my previous life?
Essentially, it's because as times have changed, players' demands for anime-style games have increased, but anime-style game developers have not only failed to improve, but have actually regressed.

Some are even fantasizing about making money while feeding players garbage, just like they did ten years ago.

This clearly goes against market principles, which is why there have been 24 consecutive years of failures in the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) industry.

(End of this chapter)