Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 221 A Trip for Two?

Wang Xuyang didn't quite understand.

"And then what? What's the big deal?"

"It's nothing, but since this morning, similar posts have been appearing on various gaming forums and social media platforms..."

He took out his phone, opened several screenshots, and handed them to Wang Xuyang.

[The best dating app of the year has appeared? "The End-of-the-World Survival Guide"!]

[Hey guys, I think I matched with a girl! She keeps following me and even throwing me canned food. Does she like me? How do I add her as a friend?]

How do I view my match history?! I want to add that girl as a friend!

[After paying, the game experience improved dramatically. Yesterday I was outsmarting mechanical spiders, and today I'm snuggling up with my sister.]

The accompanying image is a screenshot from the game "Final Survival," showing a brother and sister sitting back-to-back around a campfire. The scene itself is unremarkable, but the key detail is the small WeChat window on the left side of the screenshot.

A WeChat account with a girl's profile picture has this text: "[This is so heartwarming]."

What's even more problematic is that within these posts, there are always a few replies, sharing their own "success stories" in a half-joking, half-serious tone.

"My teammates were very skilled. Although we couldn't talk, we had great teamwork."

"After clearing the level, I decided to give it a try and found the other person's Star ID through the system records and sent a friend request... I didn't expect it to be accepted! It really was a girl! And her voice was really nice!"

These replies often attract even more replies.

"Holy crap! Is this true?"

"Damn it, thirty yuan! I didn't buy a game, I bought a dating app, guys!"

"Be careful not to get matched with a burly guy with dirty feet. I'm just playing alone anyway..."

"I'd accept a middle-aged man picking his toes, but a guy would be even better! I've paid and am being matched. Brothers, wait for my good news!"

"Stop talking, my friend just matched with someone and they're having a voice chat right now. It's making my teeth ache."

Whether these posts are true or false is irrelevant; what matters is that they successfully stirred up the most primal impulses in the hearts of countless teenage boys and even single working men.

Thirty yuan is a bargain; it won't cost you anything, but it will buy you the possibility of walking alongside "her" in a post-apocalyptic world.

Upon seeing these posts, Wang Xuyang immediately launched into a tirade of insults.

"Are these players idiots? Can't they see this is a marketing ploy by StarCraft?!"

After the outburst, Zhang Guangtai didn't even need to explain. Wang Xuyang realized the answer to the question the next second. The answer to the question wasn't important. Even if the players realized it was marketing, it wouldn't matter.

This is similar to how many guys play "Honor of Kings" with the ultimate goal of carrying girls.

What game you play doesn't matter, playing with girls is the most important thing.
There are also posts like "I bought a bundle of bags and gave it to the girl I like. I confessed to her via voice chat in the afternoon and she actually succeeded!!" These kinds of posts, which are obviously "standard fantasies," also get a lot of attention.

Because these types of posts don't provide information on whether the post is true or not.

The question is, "Is this even possible?"

It's worth noting that in its previous life, "Couple's Game," a "couple's game" that was quite challenging for girls and required a console or PC, sold over ten million copies in China.

The End Survival Guide is not only easy to operate, but its fully voiced presentation also makes it relatively suitable for "newbies" who don't usually play games. Some of the battle scenes are also suitable for guys to show off.
Furthermore, a huge advantage of "Final Survival" is that it has a mobile version. After purchasing it on StarTap, you can simply send a WeChat link to invite others to claim it.

The only problem might be Apple...
Yes, even now, Startap still hasn't been released on the Apple App Store, and the two sides are at an impasse. Startap's demand is that it's okay to take a tax, but the functionality must remain intact.

After all, launching an incomplete Star Tap would be pointless; Apple clearly doesn't think Star is qualified to negotiate with them.

So while "Final Survival" is now available on the Apple App Store and can be purchased by Apple users, after a successful match on the Apple version, players can only use the StarTap PC client or the PC client to find other players.
This matter has also caused a slight ripple on the internet.

In short, because there is a mobile app, the barrier to sharing games is very low. To put it in perspective, if you like a girl, you can exchange 38 yuan for a chance to play games together.

This price is practically free.

What's even more absurd is that this mode doesn't affect the gaming experience of single-player players or those who don't want to socialize. Just like in Journey, you can experience the charm of the game by playing alone, and you can also play with two people.

"This is, at present, the key reason for the sudden surge in sales of 'End Survival' this morning."

Zhang Guangtai put his phone away and added in a low voice.

"Moreover, this model perfectly utilizes the StarTap platform ecosystem. Players interact within the game and then return to the StarTap social system to establish connections, forming a closed loop of game, platform, and social interaction."

The last sentence struck Wang Xuyang like a heavy hammer blow to the heart.

Yes, they can't do it.

What is the Hardcore Alliance? It's a consortium of several mobile phone manufacturers' app stores.

They don't make games. If China's game market at that time were similar to that of the United States, then he could try to win over some other game companies.

Through exclusive channels for premium products and star-studded battles
But looking at the entire Chinese gaming industry right now, who the hell can compete with StarCraft in terms of game quality?
In the Chinese game market, where "any game can be made casually" and still succeed.

The first batch of "pioneers" have completely "rotted away." Tencent relies on traffic and agents, while NetEase Games has some innovation, but the direction of innovation is often "30%" in making games and "70%" in thinking about how to swindle money from players.

The rest, like Shengda and Wanmei, are even less respectable.

Therefore, as players' demands began to rise, a large number of "pioneers" became nothing more than a roadside stall.
At this very moment.

The "new generation" of game developers are just beginning to emerge, while game studies, Lingyoufang, and a whole bunch of "Chinese college students" are still in high school.

Mihoyo and a whole host of other second-hand game developers have been incorporated into the core of Xingchen, the largest developer of ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) games in China.

Wang Xuyang leaned back on the soft sofa, feeling a profound sense of powerlessness for the first time.

He never imagined that one day, domestic single-player games could achieve explosive sales with the almost joking reason of "matching with a girl".

"Damn it, StarCraft Games is too cunning; even their single-player games aren't made to be pure."

Wang Xuyang deeply misses those single-player game developers who held onto their "beliefs" and would rather "starve" than dabble in fancy tricks. Those were the real single-player game developers!

You dog, Starry Sky! No single-player game developer makes money! You're so impure!! You don't deserve to be called a single-player game developer, you don't deserve it!
I'm going to disqualify you from being a single-player game publisher!
However, what was that saying again?

If cursing could kill Xingchen, then Xingchen would have died long ago.

Therefore, after venting his anger, Wang Xuyang had to force himself to think again about how to kill Xingchen and maintain his market share.

Otherwise, if we let the other side continue to develop like this, we might not even be able to keep the current 70%.

(End of this chapter)