Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 343 The Game Industry and Cultural Tourism?
"If we are to implement a platform strategy, then we should accelerate it right now."

After discussing a lot of the broader context, Davis Miller brought up the core purpose of today's meeting: to "accelerate" the progress of the EPIC gaming platform.

Originally, EPIC planned to officially launch in August 2018 due to the emergence of the StarCraft gaming platform, but with StarCraft's move, that timeline seems a bit too "slow".

For a large company like EPIC, bringing forward a planned project is a very difficult task.

However, Davis Miller still brought up the plan.

Although the "publicity war" between Tencent and Starry Sky was fought domestically, it was not entirely unaffected overseas, leaving aside "Floating Dream Song" for now.

A single-player game of the scale of "Cat Cat" has absolutely no subject matter barriers in Europe and America.

In fact, CatCats has indeed gained a lot of attention from players in Europe and America. CatCats is priced at $24.99 in the US, but is half price for the first week, only $12.

The price, combined with the appeal of "Neko Neko," still makes it a viable option.

Although Davis Miller has his own plans, it's like being on a track, watching others sprint ahead while you haven't even put on your running shoes yet.

It would be a lie to say we're not in a hurry.

Davis's suggestion instantly shattered the cozy atmosphere of the round sofa lounge.

The sunlight was still dappled, and the coffee was still steaming, but the faces of the executives all wore a more serious expression.

“Davis, you know what ‘acceleration’ means.”

“I know it’s difficult.”

Davis did not shy away from the question.

"But everyone, we don't have much time. StarCraft Games is rapidly rising from a small platform, just like Steam rose rapidly with the Half-Life series back then."

“If we leave it unattended, I worry that even if we double our marketing costs on top of what we have now, we still won’t achieve the results we want by August next year.”

These words are actually quite forward-thinking.

In any industry, the earlier you enter, the lower your customer acquisition cost. Everyone here is an elite at EPIC, so you naturally know this.

“Okay, Davis, you’ve convinced me.”

"I will communicate with the team to reassess the development cycle, but let me state first that the budget... will definitely be exceeded."

"I'll get the budget approved by the boss. It's better to spend money now than later!"

~~~
EPIC is determined to accelerate its game platform project, Tencent continues to invest in XGAME, and the media is busy reporting on StarCraft's recent big activity.

Three games in one go: "Floating Dreams," "Bag Hero," and "Cat Cat," one demo, and two single-player games—the amount of material reported on them is countless.

And at the heart of it all.

Chu Chen was sitting in the audience at the Suzhou-Hangzhou China Game and Cultural Tourism Industry Summit, twirling his pen with a bit of boredom.

Logically speaking, he usually doesn't attend these kinds of meetings.

It's not that I have any objections, it's just that with all the back and forth and the meeting itself, half a day passed in the blink of an eye.

But this time, he really had no choice.

This conference was jointly organized by the Publicity Department, the Culture and Tourism Department, and the Suzhou and Hangzhou municipal governments. The invitation was sent directly to the company, specifically inviting him as a representative of young entrepreneurs to share "New Ideas for the Integrated Development of the Game Industry and the Cultural Tourism Industry".

Other departments are one thing, but the Publicity Department is the core of future game license management. Moreover, after taking charge of games, this department will further promote the export of games and use games to tell Chinese stories.
Although Chu Chen's approach was to focus on doing his best.

In the real world, maintaining a good relationship with your "boss" is naturally very important for the company's strategic development.

Except for this reason.

On the other hand, the theme of this summit was born because of the stars.

Or, to be more precise, it was born from a report titled "Recent Tourism Data Analysis Report of Suzhou and Hangzhou," which was personally released by the Suzhou and Hangzhou cultural and tourism departments and reprinted by multiple official media outlets.

The report itself is not long, and could even be described as somewhat straightforward, consisting entirely of data and information.

It contains a complete data report summarizing Wang Jianmin's "achievements" of exploiting Xingchen over the past six months.

The report details various collaborations between Suzhou and Hangzhou and Xingchen, such as the Suzhou-Hangzhou Marathon, Suzhou-Hangzhou Museum, and Suzhou-Hangzhou Game Expo.

These are all relatively successful cases, with a focus on the Suzhou-Hangzhou Game Expo.

These regional gaming expos normally attract people from the Suzhou and Hangzhou area, but according to official statistics from Suzhou and Hangzhou, nearly 50% of the players who actually attended were tourists from other provinces.

These cross-provincial tourists are a "treasure trove" for any place; once they arrive, a lot of spending is a natural consequence.

Even without visiting tourist attractions, it can still boost urban consumption.

In addition, another "star" project in the report is the tourist area of ​​Qichuan Town, the filming location of "What Mischief Can a Cat Have?".

As a little-known town that was originally completely unknown in Suzhou and Hangzhou, it became a "celebrity" tourist attraction after the release of the "Cat Cat" game, thanks to the combined traffic from Titok and the game.

Chinese people's attitude towards joining in the fun.

It's simply their nature.

In several alleys of the ancient town, Xingchen also opened her own pet milk tea and coffee shop, incorporating a lot of cute cat elements, since she doesn't pursue profit at all.

This store has also become a popular tourist attraction, and these activities have not only gone viral on domestic social media, but have also attracted a large number of young people to visit and take photos.

It even caused a small stir overseas, with some Japanese and Korean players actually flying to China specifically to experience the "real world within the game".

Although the absolute number of overseas tourists attracted is not large, it doesn't need to be large either; as long as the reporter encounters a few foreigners during the interviews, that's enough.

This can create the impression of "cultural export" as a political achievement.

Besides these star projects.

According to the report, since Suzhou and Hangzhou joined forces with Xingchen to create a "cultural tourism ecosystem," the number of online searches for the keyword "Suzhou-Hangzhou tourism" has surged by 40% year-on-year.

The report also analyzed the year-on-year growth of hotels and food and lodging in Suzhou and Hangzhou.

This report was like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake; the gaming media were the first to react, emphasizing a shared sense of pride.

Can games be used as tourism promotional videos? StarCraft redefines cultural export!

The most powerful live-streaming sales event ever! A game made an entire town famous!

"The Star Phenomenon: New Possibilities for the Gaming Industry to Empower the Real Economy!"

The headlines were increasingly sensational, and the articles were increasingly boastful. Then came the follow-up from mainstream media and financial channels. Compared to the excitement of the gaming media, their wording was much more rigorous, but they were still quite boastful.

(End of this chapter)