Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 259 It's a good thing to have a goal to pursue.
Whether or not to learn from the "Starry Sky Advanced Model" is not just a topic of discussion within Tencent.

At almost the same time, a large number of major domestic companies, including Shengda and Wanmei, were also thinking about this issue, but they soon came to almost the same conclusion.

"The risk is too high and the reward is too small."

"Starry Sky was able to succeed because of Chu Chen; we don't have such a talented producer..."

"Xingchen was just lucky."

Faced with Xingchen's renewed success, most major companies chose to become de facto "ostriches." There are very few domestic companies that, like Tencent, have reacted even after being pricked by a needle.

Mihayu is one of them.

Since October of last year, Mihayu has been on the fast track to success.

The success of Honkai Impact 3rd in its previous life gave miHoYo's executives confidence. However, it's strange that this timeline has stars.

miHoYo's reaction to the success of Honkai Impact 3rd is somewhat "subtle," a state of "excitement" but not quite that excited.

Ordinary people may find this mentality hard to understand, but it can actually be explained in a single sentence.

"Because above 90 points, there are people who score 100 points..."

The appearance of the stars added a sense of tension to Mihayou, a tension stemming from both psychological and performance pressures.

I've already mentioned the psychological pressure.

The main source of this performance pressure is the fluctuating revenue curve of "Honkai Impact 3rd", with the first month's revenue almost double that of its predecessor.

This year, monthly revenue has dropped from a peak of 3 million to around 1.5 million, almost halved.

Actually, if we look at the numbers alone, the monthly revenue of 1.5 million is higher than in the previous life, but the problem is that the popularity of the game at the start of the two timelines is completely different.

The launch marketing of Honkai Impact 3rd was only so-so. Its revenue was able to grow steadily and slowly, mainly due to its unique 3D rendering technology in 16, which gradually expanded its user base.

However, in this timeline, Honkai Impact 3rd not only had promotion on Star Tap, but also on PC, and the Japanese server was launched immediately.

In this situation.

From its peak of 3.5 million to the current 1.5 million, only a few months have passed.

Without the stars, this downward flow of water wouldn't be an unacceptable outcome for Mihoyo; in fact, it could be considered a good one.

But people are afraid of comparison. As soon as they compare, someone in the class who scored 90 points can be just as miserable for not getting 100.

Actually, from Chu Chen's perspective as someone who's been through it all.

Mihayu's current "awe" may not actually be a bad thing for them. Just like when people are running, having a goal to chase is actually a very "happy" thing.

The two of them were talking about this just a few days ago.

David was being cheeky at the time. Seeing the water level drop, he was in a bad mood and called Chu Chen to talk about the promotion of the new version of Honkai Impact 3.

After all, we need to avoid clashing with the anniversary celebration of "Final Battlefront".
The conversation went quite well so far.

"They're already releasing swimsuit photos at the beginning of May? Has their sales volume dropped significantly in the past few months?"

Upon hearing this, Dawei's heart skipped a beat.

"It's alright, just a normal lull. Players need some new content to stimulate their enthusiasm." Dawei tried his best to make his tone sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, that's true." Chu Chen chuckled on the other end of the phone. "Actually, there's no need to be too anxious. I've always thought that you guys are doing pretty well right now, and your output is still quite impressive."

"What state?" "Like a person running, being able to chase forward in a clear direction is a good thing."

Chu Chen said this truly out of genuine feeling.

Because he could clearly feel that the update frequency and quality of Honkai Impact 3rd in this timeline had improved significantly.

Although the pay-to-win aspect is still a bit of a rip-off, overall it's good, and the revenue is higher than in the previous life.

So, in his view, he was really encouraging David.

However, Chu Chen never expected that after he said that, Dawei couldn't sleep for several days. Not only him, but the entire Honkai Impact 3rd creative team also suffered from sleep problems.

None of them slept well.

Everyone agreed that Chu Chen was just showing off.

However, "forced" by Chu Chen's current "prestige" in the domestic game industry, especially in the secondary game circle, they could only laugh and say it even though he was "showing off".

"Yes, yes, it's a good thing to have a goal to pursue."

But only after hanging up the phone.

The entire Mihayu is just short of the "hanging one's head from the beam and pricking one's thigh with an awl" kind of dedication.
The lights in the conference room were almost never turned off before midnight. Not only the Honkai Impact 3rd development team, but also the development team of Project-G, which had just been launched, were shrouded in this invisible pressure.

"No, this standard isn't good enough! Revise it!"

"This concept art is too generic. What we want to create is a memorable fantasy world, not a mass-produced product!"

"Redo it! Redo it all!"

In the conference room, David's voice carried an undeniable weariness and stubbornness. He pointed to the concept drawing he had just finished on the screen, his brows furrowed deeply.

The employees below exchanged glances, and someone muttered under their breath, "This is just the initial stage of the project; aren't the standards a bit too high...?"

David turned around abruptly, his gaze sweeping across the room, and the conference room fell silent instantly.

"High standards? I don't think so." He took a deep breath and said slowly, "We've already started late. If we don't set higher standards, by the time the game is finished, we won't even be able to see their taillights!"

No one dared to speak, but everyone knew who "the other person" was.

In addition, Mihoyo has raised the level of confidentiality for this new project to the highest level.

Because David always felt something was strange. He felt that Chu Chen seemed to have a third eye, and would call every few days.

"Hey, Dawei, what have you been up to lately?"

"What else could I be busy with? Making a new version for Honkai Impact 3rd, of course." Dawei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while trying to remain calm.

"Oh? Really? I played Zelda a couple of days ago, and it was really good. Do you think it would be a great idea to combine this free exploration mode with gacha mechanics from anime?"

Chu Chen's tone on the other end of the phone was as relaxed as if he were having a casual chat.

But when Dawei heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and the hairs on his body almost stood on end.

"Cough, Mr. Chen, you really know how to joke." Dawei chuckled dryly, his voice a little unsteady.

"For a small company like ours, we're already exhausted just from making Honkai Impact 3 a success. We don't have the energy to work on any open-world projects."

(End of this chapter)