Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 307 The situation has changed! Requesting reinforcements!
"Write the article! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

Chen Mo sent three quick messages in the group chat.

For a gaming website, a review article that keeps up with current hot topics is quite important for attracting traffic.

Moreover, whoever publishes such an article first will attract more readers.

Because most players are definitely not satisfied after watching a short trailer that lasts only a few minutes, and this is also when players are most eager to learn more about the new game.

So, what kind of things will become popular at this time?
Firstly, there are various "detailed" PV videos, featuring top-frame video bloggers who watch the video seven or eight times, pausing, taking screenshots, analyzing, and speculating...

Another type is news media posts, which, even though they are mostly speculations, still generate traffic.

Starting from when Starry Sky Games released a video at the event.

An hour later, the announcements from domestic game media outlets were released.

This phenomenon of multiple gaming media outlets reporting on the same game is somewhat subtly similar to the time when Total War: Three Kingdoms released its first promotional video in my previous life.
During that period, any information about Total War: Three Kingdoms was almost always the first thing to appear on major gaming media outlets.

Why? Because this was the first time Total War was set against the backdrop of the Three Kingdoms period.

This is also because it is the first time in many years that a world-renowned IP has moved the game's setting to China.

It's still the Three Kingdoms, a game that many players are familiar with.
If we consider the influence of StarCraft Games within the entire gaming industry, it certainly doesn't compare to the Total War IP.
However, if we consider the realm of anime-style games, or more specifically, service-based games, Starry Night Games' influence at this time is quite formidable, at least within China.

The success of "Final Battlefront" has given many people a positive bias towards StarCraft games, especially in the context of martial arts-themed anime games.

It's got the most hype out of the box.

Everyone criticizes martial arts games, but the real focus of that statement is actually the two people mentioned earlier.

The reach of martial arts games is far greater than imagined. As one highly-rated comment in the comments section said, "When I was watching the trailer, my dad was next to me. When he asked me what kind of game it was and how to play it, I knew that this game was going to be a hit."

It is precisely because there has been no truly mainstream "wuxia" game in the past ten years that the appearance of "Floating Dream Song" is like a splash of bright red in the white snow, making it hard not to attract attention.

~~~
Just as the public opinion surrounding "Floating Dreams and Long Songs" was fermenting.

The morning's "New Game Launch Event" has finally come to an end. As the host went on stage and bowed to express his gratitude to all the audience members, both in person and online, the event concluded.

At the very moment it ended, the entire convention center not only didn't get colder, but actually got hotter.

Almost simultaneously, the reporters in the media section swarmed forward, aiming their cameras and microphones at Chu Chen, who had just stood up. The sound of shutters was like a dense Gatling gun, as if they wanted to record every single pixel of him.

"Mr. Chen! May I ask about Fumeng Changge? Is this summer specifically in August or September? Could you give me a definite answer?"

"Mr. Chu! May I ask the specific investment scale of the Starry Sky Games support program?"

"President Chu! When are those co-produced games expected to be officially released?"

"What exactly does 'co-production' mean in terms of the extent to which Starry Night Games will participate in the research and development process?"

Problems came flooding in, surrounding Chu Chen and his security personnel.

On the other hand, Zhao Ming and his Tencent team left in an extremely awkward atmosphere.

It's not that no one interviewed them, but compared to Xingchen, the number of interviews was far less. There was no way around it; Tencent's offerings, while substantial, lacked any sensationalism.

Although the promise of a bright future is just a pie in the sky, it's certainly a gimmick.

In contrast, Tencent released a lot of trailers, but none of them were first-release trailers. Even Monster Hunter had already been revealed by Capcom before.

Let's look at the release dates of these games.

In fact, Tencent only has three major titles available for release in August this year: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Nioh, and NieR: Automata. Not to mention that the console versions of the latter two have already been released.

Even if you only look at the PC ports, the newest game in this collection has been online for over half a year.

Furthermore, because it's an older game, it's actually discounted on Steam, and the Chinese version won't be removed. Therefore, Tencent's advantage will only be realized in the second half of this year, or even as late as September next year, when Monster Hunter will be available on PC.

Even so, before the press conference, Zhao Ming still believed that a few classic games plus a 8% discount would be enough to crush Xingchen by August of this year.

After all, this is in August of this year.

Zhao Ming believes that not only is he embarrassed, but Xingchen also has no cards to play.

But I never expected it.

Today, Xingchen made such a move that they were the focus of everyone's attention when they arrived, as capital giants holding a trump card, ready to give the market a shocking lesson.

As they left, they acted like warm-up guests, slinking away through the side door amidst cheers for their opponents.

“President Zhao, we…” A subordinate wanted to say something to comfort him, but didn’t know what to say.

Zhao Ming waved his hand, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

His first thought at that moment was that he wished all the game licenses XGAME had bought could be released together in August.
This is an attempt to overshadow the stars.

Subconsciously, he suddenly became a little worried that if they delayed until September of next year, the variables of the stars would be too great.

He recalled the moment he left.

Surrounded by reporters, Chu Chen remained calm, as if the earth-shattering press conference was nothing more than a sip of water to him.

"Pretending."

Back in their booth's lounge, the atmosphere within the XGAME team was somewhat subdued.

What's the online feedback like?

"Mr. Zhao, the online discussion is all about Xingchen right now..."

An operations employee carefully opened the phone and handed it over.

The headlines of major gaming media, forums, and social platforms were almost entirely dominated by terms like "Floating Dream Song," "Starry Sky," "Domestic Single-Player Game," and "Six Arrows Fired Simultaneously."

The golden age of Chinese-made single-player games has arrived!

[New game revealed by Starry Sky! Floating Dream Song is coming!!]

[What's the story behind Azur Lane, the first playable game co-developed by StarCraft?!?]

[Starry Sky Games raises the banner of Chinese gaming, unveiling twenty domestically produced single-player games at a single press conference!!!]

In contrast, although there is a lot of news about Tencent and it is quite popular, it is completely overshadowed, and even the tone of many discussions has changed.

"When will Fujiko finally produce some original content?"

"Hahaha, the comment upstairs is hilarious. Expecting Fujiko to create original content is like expecting pigs to fly."

"!"

Zhao Ming frowned upon seeing these comments.

At this point, the focus on the stars was completely diverted from the internet.

But did he really lose today?
No, he didn't.

Zhao Ming forced himself to calm down, his brain racing.

No matter how big the pie in the sky is, it's still a pie in the future. Looking at a bunch of new games, the only real impact this August was the demo of "Floating Dreams".

However, that was just a demo. What he actually had in his hand were three 3% off coupons and several AAA games.

The old 3A is still 3A, this is a real discount, a promise that can be fulfilled next month.

"Why are you panicking?"

Zhao Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire lounge.

He glanced at his dejected subordinates and said coldly.

"The volume of noise at a press conference does not represent market sales. The louder they shout today, the more embarrassing it will be next month."

"What are our advantages? Money! Distribution channels! Top-tier games that are available to play right now!"

"Who knows, maybe that bullshit Floating Dream Song is a pile of dog shit."

"Notify the marketing department to increase promotional efforts across all channels starting today. In addition to promoting the game content, make sure that the words '50% off any game coupon' are etched into the minds of every player!"

"I want everyone to know that in August, XGAME is the only home turf!"

Zhao Ming stood up and straightened his slightly wrinkled suit.

He seemed completely unaffected by the stars, but in reality, he was already planning to increase his efforts and ask the group for more publicity.

We might even need to discuss a collaboration with several of the group's anime and manga studios...
all in all.

The situation has changed! More troops are needed!

(End of this chapter)