Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 299 The Power of "Brand" and "Reputation"
Regardless of what others thought, Zhao Ming was feeling somewhat physically uncomfortable at that moment. The flush on the faces of the Tencent employees around him had long since disappeared, and they were all looking at each other in bewilderment.

The atmosphere of victory and joy that was just moments ago is gone. Regardless of how Xingchen did it, they did it.
"It's nothing, it's nothing, just a few promotional videos that were released sometime ago."

Zhao Ming offered himself a few words of comfort from the audience.

"These are all things that we don't know when they'll be released. They're just making a big fuss about them, and it's uncertain whether they'll actually come to fruition."

That makes sense, and it is indeed the norm in the industry.

But for some reason, when he said it, even he himself felt a little unsure of himself.

At first glance, these promotional videos, while still lagging behind mainstream international games, are significantly weaker than Tencent's lineup.

The problem is, just like with football...

It's not even necessary to think about whether Brazil winning the World Cup or the Chinese national football team qualifying for the World Cup will generate more buzz.

For a player who's been playing for 17 years, expectations for domestically produced games are so high that if you can get a 7 out of 10, they'll praise you to the skies.

In the past, many domestically produced single-player games actually suffered losses due to poor marketing and market performance.

Steam, as an overseas platform, has a rather passive approach to content distribution. In addition, domestic single-player games have faced financial constraints and a lack of promotional funds for a long time.

So many times, they went online without anyone even knowing.

Chu Chen is able to invest easily all over China because, on the one hand, Xingchen has money, and on the other hand, Xingchen is one of the few manufacturers that has the ability to promote domestic products.

There's a big difference between having publicity and not having it.

And the stars right now.

In terms of promotional channels, its influence in China is virtually unmatched, except for Tencent's QQ, WeChat, and its suite of services.

If we had to make a comparison, it would be that after Black Myth became a huge hit, Game Science suddenly held a press conference announcing that they were collaborating with three studios to develop a new game.
This is the power of "brand" and "reputation".

Unless one of these games becomes a huge hit after its release, like Hypergryph's "From Stardust," which was generally well-regarded before its release.

Just because this game was developed by a studio under Hypergryph.

Even though the game received positive reviews, it still sold 400,000 copies. By a slight inference, this suggests that even if the game were only rated "7 out of 10", it would still sell a significant number of copies.

With just one marketing campaign from Hypergryph, achieving sales of over a million units shouldn't be a problem.

Such was the case in its previous life as "Eagle Horn".

The influence of stars that have yet to "taste defeat" in this world is even greater.

Leaving aside the first three "old" games, the exposure of the latter three games was at least several times that of the previous one. The silence at the scene lasted for less than ten seconds before it was completely overwhelmed by a wave of sound like an avalanche.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

The online audience was constantly hearing "Wow!" and the chat in the live stream room had completely gone crazy.

If the barrage of comments during Tencent's press conference was like a waterfall, then this is like a mudslide.

The entire screen was filled with "Holy crap," "Awesome," and "Starry Sky is awesome." If you didn't turn off the comments, you wouldn't even know there was someone on stage.

And at the end of the promotional video.

On stage, before Chu Chen could even begin to introduce the "support plan," the commotion from the audience had already completely spiraled out of control.

In the front row of the media section, the reporters went completely mad, like sharks smelling blood.

Chen Mo's fingers were practically flying with excitement as he typed. He didn't even have time to craft elaborate phrases; he could only convey the information using the most straightforward and impactful headlines.

[Six Arrows Launched Simultaneously! StarCraft Games Shocks the Audience with Six New Domestic Single-Player Titles!] [Redefining Domestic Production! StarCraft Announces "Co-production" Plan, Potentially Changing the Industry Ecosystem!]

His colleagues around him reacted even more directly.

"Quick! Take a picture of that logo! And make sure you get a clear picture of all twenty-odd game names!"

"Holy crap, I didn't get a picture!! Who got one? Who got one? Post a high-resolution picture!"

"Don't push me! My camera is going to fall!"

~~~
at the same time.

A male dormitory at a university in Shanghai.

On July 10th, the day of the China Digital Games Expo, most schools were on holiday.

Although Ye Feiyang's school hasn't started its summer break yet, most of the students have already left campus.

Only a group of unlucky students were forced to stay in school because their exams were scheduled for the very last minute.

Unfortunately, Ye Feiyang was one of the unlucky ones.

Fortunately, Ye Feiyang was able to watch the press conference with his roommates.

A group of people gathered around a laptop, with a family bucket of fried chicken in the middle, eating, watching, and commenting—it's actually quite an interesting experience.

"Holy crap! Monster Hunter! A WEGAME exclusive! Fujiko F. Fujio is awesome!"

For example, just a few minutes ago.

Ye Feiyang and his roommate joined the barrage of comments exclaiming how awesome Tengzi was.

Although he and his roommate had never played Monster Hunter, there is indeed a magical IP in this world that you may never have played, but you have at least heard of.

Monster Hunter is one of them.

When WEGAME launched Monster Hunter: World in its previous life, it sold over a million copies before being taken down.

This is the power of IP.

However, soon after Chu Chen took the stage, Tencent's "awesomeness level" began to drop rapidly, and even through the screen, Chu Chen's popularity could be felt.

Then, the short film about the stars began.

The release of the three new games was like a sudden explosion of TNT, and after the explosive PV was played, there was a deafening roar of cheers.

Chu Chen returned to the stage.

"I know that everyone must have a lot of questions right now."

His voice, transmitted clearly through the microphone, reached the entire venue and the ears of everyone watching the live stream.

"For example, where did these games come from? And what exactly does it mean that they are co-produced by Starry Sky Games?"

Chu Chen's tone was calm, without the slightest hint of boasting or pride, as if he were stating a fact. Behind him, the screen switched to a brand new logo.

This logo is the same one that appeared at the end of the promotional video for the "Starry Sky Games Support Program".

If Tencent's trump card is using Chinese versions of major overseas titles as a moat, then Chu Chen's approach is to gather up the single-player games for the next few years in advance and release them all at once.

"What we want to do is to work with all Chinese game developers to bring our games to players all over the world."

(End of this chapter)