Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 219 Coffee, So Bitter

In April, the capital city is warm and windy.

It's the perfect season for travel.

Inside a top-tier golf course on the outskirts of the city, the lounge area's café features huge floor-to-ceiling windows that let in warm sunlight, while the view outside is delightful.

Wang Xuyang sank into the soft sofa, holding a latte in his hand.

He doesn't particularly enjoy playing golf, but in the business world, there are too many people who like to play golf to show off, so he often comes to this place to discuss business.

Over time, he would occasionally get the urge to play a couple of rounds, but usually it would only be two.

He prefers the quiet, comfortable, and upscale atmosphere here to playing ball.

Because of the nice weather, the door to the rest area was open. The occasional spring breeze and the girl in the white dress outside the window should have made people feel happy.

However, Wang Xuyang felt inexplicably irritable whenever he thought about the first quarter operating report he had seen a few days ago.

My heart just can't find peace.

From the end of 2016 to April of this year, in less than six months, the entire domestic Android channel market has completely changed.

After Xingchen Tap gained a foothold by relying on its three-pronged approach last October, it has now established itself in the market.

Domestic manufacturers are constantly entering the platform, and not only in China but also overseas. By continuously launching mini-games, StarTap has gained a certain influence.

This allowed Starry Sky Games to gain some access to collaborations with overseas game developers.

Many overseas single-player games have chosen to entrust the distribution rights in China to StarCraft for exclusive publishing. Even some companies that have already found distributors in China are now cooperating with StarCraft.

These single-player games, although their sales are actually just so-so, and not every one of them can become a hit, they still have an undeniable appeal.

StarCraft Games launched a new event today to celebrate the release of Monument Valley on StarCraft Tap, in collaboration with Jump Jump.

Tomorrow, a Plants vs. Zombies game will be launched on Star Tap, kicking off an exclusive event.

These "old games" may be old, but they are very famous.

Those in the know understand that these "old relics" have little commercial value, but for players, it's a completely different story, as one familiar game after another enters StarTap.

It just gives me a feeling that Star Tap is awesome.
In addition, since October, besides several hit games, games such as "Battlefield Twin Tails", "Girl Cafe Gun", and "Fantasy Hunter" have announced that they will be exclusively launched on StarTap.

Among them, "Battlefield Twin Tails" performed much better than in its previous life.

Because this game is actually not bad in its foundation, at least a 6 to 7 out of 10, it is generally decent, plus the traffic from StarTap and the Japanese server agency.

It is only natural that the water level is higher than in the previous life.

Of course, there are also characters like "Bao Si" in this series, such as those in "Girls' Cafe Gun".

Just before its release, the art team suddenly changed, replacing all the original character designs with those of the character with the Great Spear Reed Man.

Changing the art style wouldn't normally be a big deal, but at this particular time, the development team published their famous "second game wing theory" and came up with the "silent one theory."

They felt that although many people opposed the changes to the original artwork, there were probably even more silent players, and these players who did not express their opposition should be quite satisfied with the character design change.

Actually, do you think there's any merit to this logic?

not necessarily.

But can you say this?

No.

A core principle of public relations is never about right or wrong, but about separation.

Manufacturers who try to get bogged down in right and wrong during the public relations process often end up worse off not doing any public relations at all.
This is especially evident in the case of second-hand game developers. Even though Chu Chen had reminded them about this timeline, they remained obstinate.
Chu Chen didn't stop him.

Some manufacturers just won't understand the way forward until they "die" at least once.

However, even with these issues, thanks to the push notifications from StarTap, Girl Cafe Gun's launch performance in this timeline was still quite impressive.

However, it quickly lost customers due to poor reputation and its aggressive spending tactics.

Just a quick aside, how aggressively does this game (likely referring to a specific game or platform) push for pay-to-win elements? So aggressively so that if you don't pull for a high-star weapon, you can't even progress through the main storyline.
Yes, you can't even get past the main storyline.

This kind of pay-to-win strategy, applied to the secondary game market in 16...
The ending can be imagined.

However, this case of Star Tap's "failed promotion," which countless people had waited half a year for, came far too late, and was only for those in the Hardcore Alliance.

No one believes that the failure of "Girls Cafe Gun" was due to StarTap. On the contrary, many people believe that even a game like this could receive a relatively high initial traffic from StarTap.

The stars are awesome...
Therefore, from October 2016 to April 2017, StarTap basically solidified its image as the "number one domestic game platform".

If StarTap thrives, then Hardcore Alliance will naturally struggle.

It's not just about losing in direct competition, but also about losing the right to speak.

Following StarTap, Tencent also kicked him while he was down, with WEGAME directly entering the fray to disrupt things.

Although WEGAME's performance against Startap was all talk and no action.

However, its massive traffic and social network also put enormous pressure on the Hardcore Alliance. In addition, after the rise of Star Tap, NetEase's attitude towards Hardcore has become ambiguous.

During negotiations with Xingchen Tap, they kept bringing up how annoying this fly was, making you want to slap it and yell, "Is Xingchen your dad?! Xingchen, Xingchen's..."

However, such thoughts are just that—thoughts.

In actual negotiations, he could only play golf with the people he wanted to play online.

no way..
In a monopolistic business, you are the buyer, but in a free market, the buyer's bargaining power naturally increases.

In order to counter the encroachment of Star Tap, Wang Xuyang made many efforts to try to maintain the status quo.

However, no matter how hard you try, it's still just an "attempt".

Operational reports will not change because of one person's efforts. Due to Tencent, many companies have reduced their advertising spending.

In order to retain these two major clients, Hardcore Alliance made adjustments to its revenue sharing structure.

This resulted in a nearly 30% decline in the overall revenue of the Hardcore Alliance in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year.
30%! ! !

This is even considering that the overall market share of the hardware alliance in the mobile phone market is still increasing.
Many pay-to-win games simply cannot be promoted on StarTap.

There was no other way but to return to the Hardcore Alliance.

However, a 30% drop in revenue is no longer just growing pains, but a broken bone.

In the past six months, they have not been without a fight back, but it's like running a race.

Unless you have a gun and can shoot the person in front of you dead, you simply can't outrun them.
The key was that they actually tried "firing a gun".

However, even after the official intervention, the impact of the shooting was limited. Moreover, with declining revenue, spending a large amount of resources on "competitive marketing" would put a lot of pressure on the company itself.

Hiring online trolls costs money!
The more Wang Xuyang thought about it, the more desperate he felt.

Aside from pushing for mobile security protocols and further reducing the promotional effect of Startap through installation restrictions, he really didn't have a better solution.
"This coffee is really bitter."

(End of this chapter)