Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 243 A Delicate Business Battle

The astonishment generated by Chu Chen's series of "miracle moments" was not only widely reported by domestic media, who used it as evidence of the "Chu Chen genius theory."

Even many overseas media outlets have begun to take notice of this "strange event," with the most intense and dramatic reactions coming from Japanese media.

After PUBG became popular, Japanese media gave Chu Chen a nickname.

'Empire's Miracle Hand'

This title actually existed a long time ago, back when FGO became incredibly popular.

The reason it earned this title is due to the dramatic change in FGO's revenue before and after Hoshino took over. Before Hoshino's takeover, FGO's global monthly revenue was between 3 million and 5 million yen.
After the StarCraft remastered version, this number has remained between 15 billion and 18 billion for many years.
That's a 30-fold increase!
Thirty times!!!

Moreover, while games like Honkai Impact 3rd, Onmyoji, and PUBG may not be as popular in Japan, Japanese media can still see StarCraft's activity globally, especially in the US market.

The End of the World Survival Guide also sold incredibly well in Japan, which is why they leaked information about the "IGN battle" back then.

So when PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) became a global phenomenon once again.

Some Japanese economic newspapers have even coined the term "Chu Chen effect."

In addition, the nickname "The Miracle Hand of the Empire," which initially circulated only in gossip tabloids and forums and was considered a cringeworthy title, has been adopted by more and more Japanese media as the series has developed.

Even serious financial magazines like Nikkei mention this title to some extent when reporting on StarCraft Games or analyzing global game market trends.

"The 'Miracle Hand of the Empire' has created another miracle. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has surpassed one million units sold globally in five days. Does this herald a new wave of change in the PC gaming market?"

"From FGO to PUBG, Chu Chen's investment philosophy is: not confined to a particular sector, but only to capture the essence of a 'blockbuster' game. What lessons can his success offer to the struggling Japanese game industry?"

When a nickname is seriously discussed by financial media, it is no longer just a nickname, but a widely recognized label.

~~~
The explosive popularity of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" has captured the hearts of countless people.

It wasn't just people from outside, but also people from inside the stars.

For example, today, Chu Chen had just arrived at the office and started working when someone knocked on the door. Chu Chen didn't pay any attention. That's just how his job is; he replied while organizing the plans on his computer.

"Please come in."

"President Chen!"

The person who appeared at the door was Li Yifeng, the person in charge of Xingchen Tap.

Since the launch of Star Tap last year, Li Yifeng's hair has visibly turned much whiter this year, but his overall energy and spirit are also much stronger than last year.

To put it simply, the entire cosmos is now...

Aside from Chu Chen, Li Yifeng is probably the most familiar person to other companies in the Chinese gaming industry.

As the person in charge of Startap.

That year, Li Yifeng was incredibly busy. The Star Tap operations team had grown several times larger than before, but staffing was still very tight.

The platform's operations include activities, collaborations with other manufacturers, applications from new manufacturers, maintenance of existing manufacturers, some matters related to the Starry Night Games Alliance, and the increasing number of Starry Night game agents recently.
Therefore, Li Yifeng rarely appeared in Chu Chen's office on weekdays. Even if Chu Chen wanted to find him, he had to ask in advance if he was free. In the entire last year, Chu Chen remembered that Li Yifeng had only rested for less than ten days.

It can only be said that behind every success, there is a fearless person supporting them.
Therefore, upon seeing Li Yifeng enter, Chu Chen subconsciously put down his work.

"Judging from your expression, is there a problem with the marketing and promotion of 'PUBG' in China?"

Recently, as more people have been reporting on their work, Chu Chen has developed a strange "skill": he can roughly guess what someone is there to report just by looking at who comes in and their expression.

Although it's actually quite boring, Chu Chen often plays these guesses for fun.

Consider it a way to find joy in hardship. Sure enough, Li Yifeng nodded in surprise.

"In the week since its overseas launch, PUBG has sold 90 copies on our own platform, 20 copies overseas and 70 copies in China."

"Revenue has exceeded ten million US dollars."

Thanks to Chu Chen's investment, as well as Star Wallpaper and Star Game Platform, this timeline has gained considerable influence in North America.

Although not large, compared to the previous version of PUBG which had virtually no marketing or promotion, this version of PUBG had a much higher initial user base.

Naturally, the speed at which the snowball rolls is much faster.

It only took a week to reach 150 million views after going live, almost twice as fast as in the previous life.

"The word-of-mouth has exploded."

"On Twitch, all the major streamers are broadcasting it, and its popularity has soared to the top of its category. On YouTube, all kinds of exciting compilations and funny videos are emerging one after another."

"Our initial investment in promoting the streamers had a snowball effect; the spontaneous spread by players was even more effective than when we paid for advertising."

The explosive popularity of "PUBG" was not unexpected for Chu Chen.

"Isn't this all good news? Where's the bad news?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yifeng's expression turned serious.

"The bad news is that the fire has spread back to China."

"What kind of bad news is this?"

Originally, the goal of making PUBG a hit was to bring the game back to China.

"Yes, but the fire was much more intense and faster than we expected."

There was a hint of worry in Li Yifeng's voice.

"Although we haven't actively contacted any major live streaming platforms in China, some top streamers have already figured out that the international version of StarCraft can be downloaded."

"On Bilibili, Tieba, and Weibo, the discussion surrounding 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' is growing exponentially."

Chu Chen had a clear understanding of the promotional strategy for "PUBG". He did not choose to make it exclusive on StarTap or for a limited time.

It's not that he lacks confidence or can't convince Bluehole.

Instead, he was well aware that if StarTap became the exclusive platform, it would create an awkward situation where only Chu Chen would be selling games in China.

This will not work.

Although it sounds ridiculous, the fact is that the first step in this defensive battle against Steam was to bring Steam into the Chinese market.

As a certain Mr. Tree Man said, if you want to open a window, you have to say you want to tear down the roof first.

Everything is afraid of comparison.

Both Steam and StarTap are selling to the Chinese market. So when it comes to rectification, at least one should be considered: should a foreign company occupy the domestic market, or should StarTap, which is "someone we can talk to," occupy the domestic market?

Therefore, this commercial marketing campaign is quite subtle.

(End of this chapter)