Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 482 The King or the Little King
Li Yifeng's brain was racing, repeatedly analyzing Chu Chen's three moves in his mind.

Steam has tens of thousands of games, but does it have the authority to decide on a Red Alert remake? Does it have the PC license for the original God of War? Does it have the license for The Legend of Sword and Fairy?

Li Yifeng became more and more excited as he thought about it, but soon, a fundamental question resurfaced.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Chen, this... in the end, it's still just empty promises."

"We're having a really heated vote here, and we're definitely getting the players' emotions going. But what if Steam really goes all out this time?"

Games are ultimately meant to be played.

Chu Chen's strategy can indeed maintain StarCraft's advantage, but the problem is that Steam isn't Weagem. What if StarCraft releases a few more AAA titles that it doesn't have?
"Yes, just making empty promises won't work."

"So there's a fourth step I haven't mentioned yet."

"There's a fourth step!?"

Li Yifeng thought to himself, "This boss is good in every way. His ability, vision, and courage are all top-notch."

There's one problem: playing too many games has brought my occupational hazards into my daily work.

In his daily meetings and speeches, he always likes to present them like a game storyline, with each part connected to the next, always leaving a cliffhanger.
"These classic old games are just old, not dead, right?"

Chu Chen naturally had no idea what Li Yifeng was thinking, so he continued talking naturally.

"Uh-huh??"

Li Yifeng, unaware of how the topic had suddenly shifted to this point, nodded subconsciously.

"Then why do so few people play it now?"

Are you saying that many old games have absolutely no value for playing?
Actually, that's not the case. Let's not even talk about the evergreen Warcraft. Take Heroes of Might and Magic III, Red Alert 2, and Age of Empires as examples.

Even now, many people still play these games.

Traditional third-party gaming platforms, represented by Haofang, have seen a continuous increase in the number of players since 04.

50万、60万、80万……浩方的同时在线人数连年飙升，到2011年，浩方同时在线突破100万大关。

This is the number of people online at the same time.

Although in recent years, with the rise of other battle platforms and the development of games, battle platforms have been on a downward trend.

But this doesn't mean that old games have declined. Even 25 years later, many players still have a special fondness for old games. In fact, some bloggers on Bilibili who make content about Red Alert can still have over 200 million followers.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have played Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

The reason why many classic games are "no longer played" is not because the games themselves are no longer fun, but because the barrier to entry for playing them has been raised too high by the times.

The first hurdle is compatibility.

For the average player, the biggest problem with playing older games is compatibility. Pop-up errors, screen glitches, and just figuring out how to configure the operating environment can deter 50% of players.

Then there's the online experience. Many older games that primarily feature PVP gameplay have long since shut down their official servers, leaving players with no choice but to use third-party gaming platforms.

Putting aside the quality of these platform services, the key point is that these platforms are full of veterans who have been playing for over a decade.

A newbie enters the game and, forget about experiencing the fun, might not even be able to find the opponent's base before getting wiped out. This kind of experience can deter a large portion of the remaining players.

But are these things really that hard to solve?
The answer is actually no. While it's not very effective to profit from solving these pain points, it's perfectly feasible to use them to build a competitive advantage.

Chu Chen's so-called fourth step was that on the same day that 'Hall of Starlight' was launched, all the original games of the classic IPs that Starlight had authorized would be relisted on the Starlight platform!

Prices range from free to $9.9 and $19.9.
For example, older games like *Red Alert*, *Heroes of Might and Magic III*, and *The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1* can be added to the library for a limited time as a way to attract new players. However, more recent games need to be priced and sold; they can't be given away entirely. Giving them all away would lose its anchor point, which would be counterproductive.

But that's not the point.

The key is to ensure compatibility for each older game and to rebuild a modern online server and matchmaking system embedded in the Star Platform for these older games!

Ladder ranking, rank, battle record, and friend challenge.

They should have all the features that are common in mainstream games today! They should allow veteran players to find equally matched opponents, and allow new players to develop safely in the beginner's area!

These things are not a problem for Xingchen at all. For example, optimization and adaptation have been done by many old games. It's just that for players who only click "automatic installation" on the platform, these optimization operations are too troublesome.

As for the matching system, it's even simpler.

In fact, many platforms in China have so-called "ranking points," but due to chaotic management and lack of official authorization, these battle platforms are often left to their own devices in a laissez-faire manner.

While StarCraft cannot improve the physical aspects of cheating, it can enhance human intervention by adding a reporting system.

Most importantly, Starry Sky can reopen its official servers.

"We can even create a workshop for them! This would provide a unified and convenient channel for sharing and downloading the mods, maps, and expansion packs created by talented individuals scattered throughout the community!"

After Chu Chen finished speaking...

Li Yifeng was truly impressed. His previous thinking was completely confined by the words "remastered version," but Chu Chen's thinking had already broken out of that framework.

The reason why "drawing a cake" is called "drawing a cake" is because it is illusory and intangible, something that can be seen but not touched.

But Chu Chen is essentially breaking off a small piece of the "pie" for you now. You want to play the remake of "Red Alert 2"? No problem, cast your vote first!
While waiting for the remastered version to be developed.

Our Starry Sky platform offers you the original version of "Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge," perfectly adapted to the new system, with built-in ranked matchmaking and one-click play! It's completely free; just register on the Starry Sky platform and you can play!
After listening to Chu Chen's explanation, Li Yifeng immediately had a breakthrough in his thinking.

He also offered a suggestion.

"We can also do futures trading. For example, players who put their money in now can get a repurchase when the remastered version comes out."

"Hmm, it seems you fully understand what I mean."

Seeing Chu Chen nod, Li Yifeng felt a surge of heat rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his blood boiled.

As expected of Starry Sky Games' "wishing machine"

"Mr. Chen, I'll arrange it right away! The technical department, the platform department, the marketing department... I'll personally oversee it! I guarantee that our 'Hall of Fame' will be a resounding success before the Steam Christmas Sale begins!"

The previous panic and anxiety vanished, replaced by boundless fighting spirit and confidence.

"Go."

Li Yifeng nodded heavily, but halfway there, he suddenly remembered something.

"Um...Mr. Chen?"

"Ok?"

"You just said... you were holding the King and Queen?"

"Yes."

"So... is our 'Starlight Reboot' plan... for Your Majesty, or for me?"

(End of this chapter)