Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 38 A World of Differences in the Workplace

"Holy crap, we've made it into the top 20 of the Apple best-selling list!!"

"It's number one on the download charts!!"

"Today's revenue has already exceeded three million! Holy crap!! The ring gift packs are selling like hotcakes!"

"It's incredible."

"Ahhh, I'm so excited!"

"Mr. Chen!! You're awesome!!!"

At Starry Night Games Studio, starting around 3 PM, after the latest Apple best-selling chart data was updated, the entire office erupted in uncontrollable cheers.

This cheering comes from two aspects. One is the game's success, which is undoubtedly an affirmation of everyone's work.

On the other hand, it comes from Chu Chen's profit-sharing model.

A 10% share of project profits means that the revenue behind this flow not only goes to the company, but also to their own pockets.

Chu Chen did not try to stop everyone's excitement.

After all, almost everyone has been working overtime for half a month straight to get to today, so it's only right to let loose a little.

"That's really exaggerated!!"

"Holy crap! Our animated short video is trending on Bilibili!"

Wow, amazing! Wow, that's incredible! It's only been a few hours!

"It's really trending?"

Chu Chen did put a lot of effort into the plot of "Final Front," but even so, he never expected that the plot would have such a good marketing effect.

Actually.

This is actually a kind of "information cocoon" to some extent. Chu Chen returned to the present from the future, and the gaming industry at that time was actually quite prosperous.

Putting aside Black Myth, all the various anime-style game developers, while often making mistakes, also have their moments of brilliance.

At present, especially since "Honkai Impact 3" and "Onmyoji" have not yet been officially released.

Most mainstream anime-style games on the market either have no storyline at all, like Kantai Collection, or are filled with riddles and cringeworthy, overly dramatic dialogue that makes you want to skip them.
At this time, the appearance of "Final Front" was no less significant than the emergence of "The Wandering Earth" in later years.

Not to mention, Chu Chen's cutscenes actually borrowed quite a few storyboards from "The Wandering Earth".

The massive circular city walls, the towering space elevators, and the three-dimensional circular tracks—each of these animations, taken individually, is a phenomenon.

Now they've all appeared in one game, and it's a free game.

Furthermore, since Final Frontiers itself has enough interesting PVP and PVE gameplay, Chu Chen doesn't need the main storyline to fill out the playtime.

in turn.

What he needs is an excellent storyline that can immerse players in the game's world, make them genuinely like the game's characters, and thus induce players to spend money on those characters.

Therefore, Chu Chen did not require the story to reach a certain number of hours.

Instead, it pursues the communication of worldviews, empathy, and emotional expression.

And so, this is what was ultimately presented.

It's a main storyline that's easy to understand, immersive, and enjoyable. Although the main storyline, cutscenes, and combat gameplay are included, the overall playtime is only about 2 to 3 hours.

But those two or three hours left a very deep impression.

Concise copywriting.

Exquisite animation.

A clear plot.

The combination of these three elements brought an unprecedented impact to anime and manga game players at that time.

This impact, through a series of reactions, ultimately translates into word-of-mouth and influence, causing the various data in the background of "Final Front" to skyrocket like a rocket.

"Should we make some arrangements?"

Looking at the vibrant office, Song Yueying walked over to Chu Chen's side.

Chu Chen glanced at it and felt that after working so many extra days, he should relax a bit, so he nodded.

"Let's schedule it for next week. We still need to prepare for the Japanese server launch, the new season gameplay, record promotional programs, and release interactive wallpapers. We should be busy until next week, then we can leave work early." "I saw a seafood buffet on a cruise ship, it looks pretty good, I can ask about it."

Chu Chen had a plan for releasing the public beta content of "Final Frontline". He did not choose to release it all at once because "Final Frontline" does not yet have its own traffic channels.

To attract attention, you must rely on updating your content.

So even during the public beta, in addition to the main storyline, Chu Chen prepared several other new things, but he didn't release them all at once.

Instead, they plan to release it in stages over time, but right now nobody seems to care about Chu Chen's business strategy.

Almost everyone automatically ignored the first half of Chu Chen's sentence and only heard about a seafood buffet on a cruise ship.

As soon as Chu Chen finished speaking, the noise in the office, which had subsided slightly, erupted again, with the sound waves even more turbulent than before.

"Long live the boss!"

"Cruise ship? What cruise ship?"

"We can eat seafood now!?"

"Crayfish!! Crayfish!!"

"Small lobster! Big Boston lobster!! Big Boston lobster!"

Looking at the increasingly enthusiastic group of employees, Chu Chen shook his head.

Fine, fine, let them have their fun.

~~~
In contrast to StarCraft Games' singing and dancing, many peers who were focused on the sales of "Final Front" had a completely different reaction at the same time.

For example, the perfect magnesium world right now.

The office of a senior executive.

The atmosphere in this office was clearly off.

"No! I asked you to analyze why Final Frontline's revenue was so high on the first day, and you showed me a video!?"

The middle-aged man sitting at his desk threw his tablet forward, his visible anger making the air in the office quite somber.

"President Song, this video is very representative. Just take a look..."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's anger intensified.

"What are you looking at! I told you to report to me privately! And you're just giving me this runaround?! I think you don't want to work here anymore!"

Hearing this, the young man standing in front of the desk was completely dumbfounded.

He didn't know how to respond.

The atmosphere at the scene was about to get out of control when a series of hurried footsteps sounded. The office door was gently pushed open a crack, and a man with a buzz cut peeked in.

"President Song, President Song, please calm down."

He quickly glanced around the office, his gaze shifting back and forth between the young man and the furious CEO Song.

"Xiao Qin is a new kid, so he might be a bit impulsive and not very good at grasping the key points. Please don't take it personally with him."

The man with the buzz cut stepped forward, subtly took the tablet from Qin Ruohua's hand, and smoothly took over the conversation.

“We’ve been urging you to submit the report. The data department is still repeatedly checking several key indicators, saying that they must ensure accuracy. Xiao Qin must be anxious to let you get a direct feel for why users are so receptive.”

"The trailer and story editing for 'Final Front' were really impactful, and the player feedback was particularly enthusiastic."

President Song's face remained ashen.

"Impact? I need data analysis! Market insights! Business logic! Not cartoons!"

"Yes, yes, you're right."

The man with the buzz cut echoed in agreement, then turned to Qin Ruohua.

"Xiao Qin, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go back to write the report. Compile a preliminary data report and send it to President Song! I happen to have other things to report to President Song."

Qin Ruohua finally realized that her boss was giving her a way out, and nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, okay! I'll go right away! Mr. Song, Brother Liu, I'll head out now!"

(End of this chapter)