Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 433 Chain Reaction
Watching TV together is actually a very simple activity.

Xingchen created a "TV chat room" on a webpage. After players clicked in, they were automatically assigned to chat rooms, with a maximum of 50 people per room.

Players can chat freely within the game.

Of course, players can also choose to invite their StarTap friends to watch together.

The form was so simple it was almost plain, but the effect was better than expected.

Regardless of the final outcome, this event has certainly generated a lot of buzz.

Moreover, FGO itself covers a large audience of tens of millions of players. Even if only one percent of them are drawn to the game, it would still be a terrifying number.

In addition, the response to this simple feature in Japan even exceeded Chu Chen's expectations.

On the night the program aired, countless chat rooms were instantly activated, and the total number of online users, as measured by the backend, peaked at an astonishing 270,000.

The fact that 270,000 players gathered at the same time for the same TV program completely shocked Japan's traditional media industry.

For the first time, they directly experienced how a two-dimensional game could unleash such terrifying mobilization power.

This viewing experience of watching TV together using an app quickly sparked heated discussions.

It's a strange feeling, a bit like adding a bullet screen system to a TV, but not exactly the same, because bullet screens are not interactive.

You don't know when this comment was posted.

Unlike watching TV together, people can chat in the same room, though the chat is anonymous by default.

This kind of software has absolutely no market in China.

After all, in China, a television is essentially a large decorative item.

Although iQiyi and Bilibili have also had similar "watch TV together" features, in the era of streaming media, there are too few people watching the same video at the same time.

If we had to make a comparison, this kind of chat room community interaction is somewhat similar to Weibo during the Chinese New Year Gala.

Only when watching the Spring Festival Gala.

It is possible for a large group of people to watch and interact at the same time.

However, in Japan, television remains the center of family entertainment, and watching prime-time programs together is an unchanging daily routine for many Japanese families.

It cleverly combines the traditional family movie-watching ritual with modern online social interaction, creating a brand-new "synchronous" social experience.

Moreover, for such an experience to succeed, there is a prerequisite: having a sufficient number of users.

Ideally, these users should also share some commonalities.

Starry Sky also achieved this; its first batch of users were all FGO players, so when they watched FGO variety shows together...

This experience is absolutely fantastic.

As a result, the day after the show aired, the hashtags "FGO variety show" and "watching TV together" appeared at the bottom of the trending topics on Japanese Twitter.

Countless players who participated in last night's festivities are excitedly sharing their experiences.

"This is simply a genius invention! I've never found watching TV so fun before!"

"I strongly urge Starry Sky to make this feature a separate feature! I want to watch next week's new anime series with my friends!"

Although it was just the tail end of the trending topics, making it onto the trending list means it represents a popular trend.

At this point, Hoshino's original popularity and reputation advantage came into play, much like during the peak of Black Myth's popularity, when everything seemed to be trying to capitalize on it. Now, in Japan, Hoshino's appeal is somewhat based on the concept of "traffic" itself.

Whether you're a fan of Xingchen or a hater who dislikes Xingchen, mentioning Xingchen will generate traffic.

As a result, the incident was quickly reported.

The next day, Hoshino Japan simply turned the website into an app and released it on app stores. The app was called "Watch TV Together".

The purpose of Xingchen in making this is purely to protect intellectual property rights.

So the app's function is very simple: it's an open chat room where you can select a TV station. It grabs the TV station's program schedule and opens corresponding chat rooms at different times. That's all.

StarCraft didn't even do any large-scale promotion for it; they simply released an announcement on StarCraft's Tap and FGO's official accounts.

However, the Japanese once again demonstrated what it means to "join in the fun."

Thanks to FGO's massive popularity in Japan, this seemingly "rudimentary" app quickly became a download sensation overnight.

Next came passersby drawn by the buzz on social media.

They were surprised to find that the app had no barriers to entry; it didn't require linking to any game or even registration—just download and use it.

Moreover, it is very easy to use.

Turn on the TV, find the corresponding TV chat room, enter, and you can start chatting.

"I can finally watch TV with someone!"

"It's so useful! Last night I was chatting with a bunch of strangers in it and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt."

After its initial positive reception, the app quickly experienced a second wave of positive word-of-mouth, and the speed at which this positive word-of-mouth spread exceeded everyone's expectations.

If Chu Chen were to reflect on this himself, it would be a miracle that could only have occurred between 15 and 18, when Japan's television industry had not yet been completely overwhelmed by streaming media and still maintained a huge influence.

Young people haven't completely abandoned television yet, and Starry Sky also happens to own Titiok and the phenomenal game FGO, accumulating a terrifying user base and brand appeal among young people in Japan.

The right time, the right place, the right people.

When these three elements, along with a touch of just the right gimmick, work together on a highly social "hot topic,"...

That's how this "explosive" event happened.

The next morning, when countless Japanese people habitually opened their phone app stores, they were collectively dumbfounded.

At the top of the download charts was an app they had never heard of before.
"Hey~~ what is this?"

Countless people have raised the same question.

Immediately afterwards, the "social pressure" inherent in Japanese people—the desire not to be abandoned by the group—began to take hold.

As a result, more and more Japanese people, curious and wanting to see what this was all about, pushed the download volume of "Let's Watch TV Together" to a new peak.

This is somewhat similar to how DeepSeek suddenly became a hit in Japan later on.

As long as the media says you're popular and you're indeed on the app charts, a massive number of users will quickly follow.

Not to mention, this "Watch TV Together" app is so simple to use, with no learning curve, and it does have a certain degree of fun and social interaction.

By the 21st, the app had become incredibly popular, even driving the overall viewership ratings of television stations across Japan to rise again after seven years.

(End of this chapter)