Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 464 Hell
This concludes the first part of the 48-hour competition video.

It consists of about an hour of variety show content, plus half an hour of production discussion and editing for each team.

The second part, the demo, was scheduled for the next day, and the awards ceremony for player ratings after the demo was scheduled for the following month.

Actually, at the very beginning.

The production team was somewhat conflicted about whether to release the second half, which was the part where the participating teams discussed game ideas.

"Release all the core ideas so early, won't players lose interest when the demo is released?"

However, Chu Chen was quite satisfied with the process when he went through it.

"We have to release it. If you don't release it, how can the players be eager to play?"

Why do girls wearing masks look better? Because people tend to fill in the gaps in their imagination, projecting what they can't see onto their ideal image.

Chu Chen and Ma Yuanyao's move could be described as a stroke of genius.

The first step is to use a one-hour variety show to bring the skill level of all the contestants to the forefront, proving that everyone who comes is a master.

The second step is to use Chu Chen's team's design process to present a highly attractive creative prototype, whetting everyone's appetite.

The third step is to tell everyone, "Want to play? Wait until tomorrow."

Even the "wait until tomorrow" part was planned.

The reason for the one-day wait is nominally because the backend needs to upload and review the data, and the rating system needs to be prepared. However, in reality, this one-day window is designed to make players impatient and generate public opinion.

And the final facts proved it.

Chu Chen has a good grasp of the players' psychology.

Within three hours of the video being released, various related discussions had sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

The media, like sharks smelling blood, produced a plethora of analytical articles from various angles.

Players reacted even more directly and enthusiastically. Countless people flooded Star Entertainment's official account with comments that were almost all in the same format.

"Here's the money, give me the game!!"

~~~
at the same time.

That evening, Tencent WEGAME game platform operations department.

"Within six hours of its release, it garnered over eight million views on Bilibili and over five million views globally on YouTube. This doesn't even include the official Starry Sky website or the viewership ratings from TV Tokyo."

"Related topics on Twitter have trended in seventeen countries and regions worldwide."

"Mr. Leng, that was bought by Xingchen..."

"Never mind whether it was bought or not!!!"

Leng Zefeng slammed his hand on the table.

"So what if this influence was bought? I'll give you the money, can you buy back this momentum for WEGAME? If you can, I'll approve the funding for you right now!!"

"."

No one answered.

Leng Zefeng took a deep breath. He knew that this matter had nothing to do with the WEGAME operations department.

After all, Tencent had already made a decision after the failed hedging strategy of investing heavily in "Night Spirit" and "Azur Lane" in October.

Temporarily avoid the sharp edge of the stars.

Of course, Tencent doesn't call it that; their official term is "strategic in-depth cultivation."

We will cultivate our social media moat, leverage our traffic advantage, and enhance our long-term operational capabilities.

To put it bluntly, it means we've temporarily given up on fighting the stars head-on, and instead, we're doing our thing while they do theirs, keeping to ourselves and not interfering with each other.

"Strategic in-depth cultivation"

Rationally speaking, Leng Zefeng agrees with the strategic decision made by the top board of directors.

After all, he had voted in favor at the meeting. He also knew that Tencent's top management was currently focusing their efforts on dealing with Titok, and if nothing unexpected happened, by the end of the year, Tencent's WeChat and QQ would likely begin blocking sharing links from ByteDance's Douyin, Huoshan Video, and other products.

As for an excuse? I haven't thought of one yet, but that's not the point.

The key point is that from the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2018, Tencent's core strategic direction was short videos, following its $350 million investment in another short video platform, Kuaishou, in March.

In October, another $10 billion was invested, and it is expected that at least another $10 billion will be invested next year. In addition, $20 billion will be invested in its self-developed Weishi to support its development.

There are also dozens of self-developed or invested short video projects that are aiming for a "wolf pack" strategy.

In this situation.

Tencent really has a hard time finding the time and energy to deal with Starry Sky.

On the one hand, there is a lack of energy, and on the other hand, StarCraft's current impact on Tencent Games' core business is only affecting incremental growth, not Tencent's core business.

But for Leng Zefeng...

The group's abandonment was not good news for him.

Abandoning the attack on the stars means a depletion of resources, just as the core purpose of the US military-industrial complex's constant propaganda of the China threat theory is to intimidate Congress and secure more funding.

Leng Zefeng also needs to repeatedly emphasize the terror of the stars in order to obtain more resources.

This emphasis is not limited to superiors.

We must also maintain high pressure on those below us and unify their thinking.

"This is just the appetizer. Eleven game demos will be released tomorrow night."

"What does this mean? It's like a small, globally synchronized, free E3 press conference. And all the traffic will eventually end up on their own platform."

"And what were you doing at the same time?"

There was dead silence in the conference room.

This question is impossible to answer. Putting aside the fact that Xingchen's tactics completely exceed their usual business logic of "channel is king, traffic wins".

Just back in October, the group had asked the game department to focus on developing the market. As the platform operations department, how could they possibly dare to pull any tricks?
"Why don't you speak?"

Leng Zefeng's voice echoed in the empty conference room, carrying a suppressed anger.

He looked around, and wherever his gaze fell, his subordinates all lowered their heads, like a group of scolded schoolchildren, even their breathing was cautious.

"I know the group's strategy. I also understand the importance of cultivating a deep-rooted presence."

"But strategy is strategy, and tactics are tactics. They're practically throwing a party right in our faces. We can't just bury ourselves in farming and pretend we can't hear the music outside, can we?"

"I don't care what methods you use or what tricks you pull. But tomorrow, when those eleven demos from StarCraft go live, you need to thoroughly understand StarCraft's strategies and carefully consider what we're going to do!!"

In fact, Leng Zefeng was hinting at something.

You can't just give way because someone in charge says so.

Tencent's short video division is throwing billions into the market; even if our gaming division doesn't spend billions, a few billion would be good.

Of course, these things are not appropriate to say directly at the meeting.

"Don't think about anything right now."

"Open that video for me, watch it from beginning to end. If once isn't enough, watch it twice, if twice isn't enough, watch it ten times. Make it develop a patina!"

"Tomorrow morning, I need a complete analysis report, with no detail overlooked, and I need it on my desk."

After Leng Zefeng finished speaking, he turned around and left.

So, in silence, the group began watching the video.

It would have been better if I hadn't watched it. Once I did, the video was hilarious. The meeting was supposed to be a serious event, but the video Xingchen made was just too funny.

But at these meetings, you have to hold back your laughter even if you want to, and you're shaking from holding it in, while you still have to take notes.

This experience was downright hellish.

(End of this chapter)