Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 575 Pressure
Especially in the past year, even if there are haters, they only dare to make sarcastic remarks in obscure corners. Once they show their faces, they will be drowned in the players' spittle.

This was the first time they had so directly experienced such undisguised prejudice and scrutiny from overseas.

Especially Yuwan. Although he is not an employee of Xingchen, his feelings for Xingchen are no less. Especially recently, that shameless guy from "Midnight Call" suddenly appeared, actually claiming to be Chu Chen's disciple.
"If you ask me, these American print media outlets are probably all paid off; they're all just promoting threat theories, there's nothing new about them."

Feng Yi, who happened to be dining at the restaurant at that moment, chimed in with a few words.

"What's the rush? Whether it's praise or criticism, it's all traffic, and that's the effect we want."

To be honest, even though Feng Yi talks a good game, he's under the most pressure among everyone in this group.

On the one hand, "Black Myth" is the final work of the entire Huaxia team this time, and on the other hand, the scale of this project is so large that he feels a little overwhelmed.

A team of over four hundred people and dozens of games—if they don't make a name for themselves, it won't just be a matter of losing face; it will be a disgrace to the entire Chinese gaming industry.

Furthermore, going back a little further, just a week before their departure, all the representatives from the Star Alliance companies that were going to E3 were summoned to Suzhou to attend a conference called the "First China Game Industry Overseas Strategy Forum".

That forum was quite extravagant in scale.

The event was held at the Suzhou International Expo Center, where a line of over 100 meters long formed at the media check-in desk at the entrance.

CCTV even sent a team several days ago, saying they would film the entire process and eventually edit it into a documentary.

Every single reputable domestic financial, technology, and gaming media outlet was there, their flashes practically flying everywhere, blinding everyone.

Besides StarCraft, other participating game companies included Tencent, NetEase, and Wanmei. Even companies like Shengda, which didn't originally have a booth at E3 this year, all came to join the fun.

The following day, official press releases and news reports flooded the media, with headlines that were increasingly grandiose.

Qiantang Evening News: "A New Chapter in the Digital Silk Road - The Chinese Game Fleet Sets Sail."

CBN: "A cultural expedition to a market worth hundreds of billions: the Star Alliance sounds the rallying cry."

Xinhua News Agency's headline was more direct and carried more weight: "A Symphony of Cultural Confidence and Industrial Upgrading: A Special 'Going Global' from Suzhou to Los Angeles"

At this forum, Chu Chen also outshone the president of Tencent Games, becoming the star of the day.

In addition to traditional media, domestic new media forces also reacted quickly.

For example, Bilibili is the one that reacts the fastest.

Although Chen Rui was always worried that Chu Chen would "usurp his place," it didn't stop him from trying to gain attention. Almost on the same day the news broke, he launched a special page called "E3 Summer: Chinese Games Gathering."

At the top of the page is a huge countdown timer, accurate to the second, next to which is the Star Alliance logo and a slogan that's so cheesy it's almost childish: "On this journey, we will let the world hear our story."

At the bottom of the page are separate entrances for dozens of exhibiting games, from already revealed single-player games like "Bloody Spell" and "Pascal's Wager" to several unannounced silhouettes, each with its own dedicated discussion forum and information page.

It was even faster than Starry Sky Games' own event page, and the player reviews were almost unanimously positive.

"Wow! Even CCTV News's Weibo account reposted it! That's impressive!"

"Brothers, type 'Pride of Chinese Products' in the chat!" "Please, stop with the gacha system from mobile games, give Chinese people some pride! We're exporting culture, not casinos!"

"Upstairs, you're being narrow-minded. Look at the team Xingchen led this time, how many of them are purely mobile game developers? Don't worry!"

"I don't care, I'm just waiting for Xingchen's press conference. I haven't had a pancake in three months!"

On Weibo, the hashtag #ChineseGamesLegionGoesToE3# immediately climbed to the top three trending topics, followed by a bright red "hot" icon.

Countless gamers, artists, and even some influential figures who don't play games are sharing and discussing it, creating an atmosphere as enthusiastic as a national sporting event.

Even CCTV, which is usually very serious, used its Bilibili account to report on the incident in a nearly three-minute video.

The host was even Bai Yansong.
“When we talk about cultural export, we often think of movies, TV series, and literary works. But today, a new medium, video games, is representing Chinese youth culture on the world stage in an unprecedented way.”

"This is not just a commercial expedition, but also an exchange of civilizations. We look forward to and wish them well in bringing us surprises in Los Angeles."

Many older gamers felt a deeper sense of emotion when they saw this video.

Once upon a time, video games were considered "electronic heroin," an internet addiction that needed to be "cured." Now, however, they have been featured on national television and hailed as "culture" and "hope."

This stark contrast evoked a mix of emotions in many veteran players, with some even moved to tears.

And these are just the reports that are out in the open.

A large group of people, including Feng Yi, Hai Mao, and Yu Wan, also attended another meeting, which was held in a hotel in Suzhou Industrial Park that was not open to the public.

Feng Yi still remembers that when he walked into the conference room, he was truly taken aback.

The long conference table was covered with a deep red velvet cloth. Instead of colleagues in plaid shirts and jeans, rows of people in dark suits sat on either side. Each person had a name tag with gold lettering in front of them.

The Ministry of Publicity, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Commerce, followed by a string of bureau-level suffixes that he didn't quite understand.

The meeting that day had no host, only a leader with gray hair, wearing glasses, and looking very refined, who spoke in a calm and unhurried tone about the significance of this "going global" mission.

He didn't use any grand terms like "cultural export," but simply told a small story.

He said that when he visited Europe last year, his grandson asked him to buy a gift, which was a limited edition figurine from a game.

He searched for a long time in the area before finding it. When the shop assistant heard that he was from China, he asked him very enthusiastically if there were any famous games in China.

"I didn't know how to answer at the time."

"Comrades, it's not that we lack good things. Our myths, our history, our mountains and rivers—aren't they all more wonderful than others'? So why can't others see or hear them?"

The old man paused here, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

Every single game company boss present instinctively straightened their backs and even softened their breathing.

(End of this chapter)