Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 579 Steam
"Haven't you noticed?" Davis leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice, "Bethesda, which usually has a pre-E3 press conference, has been completely silent this year?"

Zhao Ming's pupils suddenly contracted, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

He looked up at Davis with a start, his eyes filled with shock.

"you……"

“That’s right.” Davis was very satisfied with Zhao Ming’s reaction.

“We have partnered with Bethesda. All of their new content this year will be announced at the EPIC pre-show, and their new game will also be EPIC’s first timed exclusive.”

Nobody in this world is a fool. The content exclusivity strategy that StarCraft is pursuing isn't some sophisticated business tactic. Steam doesn't pursue exclusivity because Steam itself is the largest platform, and the cost of pursuing exclusivity far outweighs the benefits.

However, EPIC, like StarCraft, is a latecomer.

In fact, there was one thing Davis didn't tell Zhao Ming: the collaboration between EPIC and Bethesda was spearheaded by Tencent.

This is Davis's trump card. Bethesda's lineup this year is still very strong, with Fallout spin-offs, the first reveal of Fallout 76, Doom Eternal, and new DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online. He doesn't believe StarCraft could have come up with it.

However, this was something Davis, who was brimming with confidence, probably didn't expect.

At the same time that he was chatting with Zhao Ming.

Chu Chen, dozens of kilometers away, drew three circles on the whiteboard.

This is the Star Core Meeting that Chu Chen is holding. On one hand, he is trying to sort out the current situation for them, and on the other hand, he is also sorting out his own thoughts.

"Now, it is certain that both EPIC and STEAM will hold pre-show press conferences."

"At the same time, Bethesda and Paradox Interactive, these mainstays, were almost completely uninvolved."

"Their lack of participation doesn't mean they don't promote their products; it's just that someone has approached them, offering to pay for their promotional activities."

"While we were creating content, both Epic Games and Steam were actively expanding their reach this year. Epic Games was primarily targeting Unreal Engine developers, while Steam was mainly targeting smaller game developers."

As Chu Chen spoke, he drew several circles on the whiteboard.

"Let's talk about EPIC first. Based on my speculation, EPIC's strategy at E3 this year will likely involve collaborating with Bethesda, and they might even sign a fake Unreal Engine partnership agreement."

"The core idea is..."

[Major titles + low commission rates + support for Unreal Engine game developers]

If Davis could hear what Chu Chen said, he would probably be shocked.

In fact, not only Davis was probably taken aback, but everyone present, including Fuller and several American executives, also looked at each other in surprise.

This is incredibly detailed.

How detailed was it? If Chu Chen hadn't been standing right there, they would have almost thought that EPIC's CEO had personally come to give them a strategic mobilization meeting.

Fuller went even further and said something directly.

"Mr. Chen, do you have an inside man at EPIC?"

This gossipy question voiced everyone's thoughts, and instantly, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on Chu Chen.

"Inside?"

Chu Chen was amused. He picked up a marker and gave a brief explanation.

"This isn't hard to guess. Just like we prepared a bombshell, EPIC also needs one. What can be a bombshell? Of course, it's the content—the truly craved masterpieces that players can only play here."

"So, who will he partner with? Ubisoft, EA, CD Projekt Red—these big companies have their own platforms. Sony and Nintendo are even less likely. Among the remaining independent big companies, it's either Bethesda or Paradox Interactive."

"If we eliminate Paradox Interactive (P社), which has a close partnership with Steam, isn't the final answer obvious?"

Often, a person's perspective fluctuates with the platform they've been on. Take Chu Chen, for example. In his previous life, when he was just a corporate slave, he would never have said these things, but after spending more than two years as the boss of Xingchen, his perspective has changed.

During this process, although Chu Chen himself did not have much awareness, everything he saw and the scenery he saw turned into experience.

In other words, while others are growing up.

Chu Chen, who already had more than a decade of experience, was also growing along with them.

Especially in the gaming platform arena, the competition between platforms is ultimately a battle for momentum, for players, and for traffic. For platforms, the resources they can attract are limited.

Just like in the remastered version, once Starry Sky gets his hands on it, this territory belongs to Starry Sky.

So with a little thought, plus Bethesda's cancellation of its E3 pre-show press conference this year, and Davis's cautious approach, even requesting Bethesda to sign a confidentiality agreement, it's not hard to guess.

After he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent. Those who had just found it unbelievable were now filled with sudden realization.

Especially Fuller.

Since arriving in the United States at the end of 16, Fuller has not seen Chu Chen in person for almost a year. Although they exchange emails and video conferences, they have eventually grown somewhat distant.

However, at this moment, the sense of distance that video conferencing creates through a screen has vanished.

Fuller looked at his boss, who was almost twenty years younger than him, and felt a mix of emotions.

A year has passed, and the boss is still the same boss, or even... more terrifying.

This kind of intimidation isn't about an imposing aura, but rather a penetrating sharpness and confidence that sees through everything. If EPIC really does collaborate with Bethesda in a few days...
"Then... what about Steam?"

Since the announcement of Steam's entry into China in February, and the promotion that began in March, we have been working on it until now.

Wanmei's local promotion of Steam is commendable; for example, the account synchronization feature has instantly increased the number of Steam accounts by tens of millions.

It did lower the barrier to entry, and some domestic manufacturers subsequently put their games on Steam. For example, Xishanju released the remastered version of "JX3" on Steam, although it did not achieve much success.

They even followed Chu Chen's example and invited some foreigners to play JX3 (Sword Net 3). Although it ended up being quite embarrassing, they did manage to generate buzz.

However, the Steam China version has also encountered many problems.

The biggest problem was something Wanmei hadn't anticipated at all: Steam's massive game library wasn't as advantageous as she had imagined.

Ultimately, gamers are just fickle, easily bored men.

Although the StarCraft game library is not large, it has all the mainstream popular works, and Wanmei quickly discovered that Steam's game library is so huge that it is almost endless.

For ordinary players, or rather, for the average person, it has absolutely no advantage, and is even inferior to a large number of anime-style games and indie single-player games that are exclusive to StarCraft.

This may sound contradictory, but a little thought will make it clear that hardcore gamers will actively seek out games.

For ordinary gamers, their time is more precious, and they will generally only play games that are already well-known in the gaming industry.

Or to put it more simply, ordinary players are readers who only read the online novels on the bestseller lists.

If you weren't recommended, then you're not worth my time to watch.

In this context, Steam's game library is paradise for hardcore gamers, but for the average gamer who makes up 90% of the market, what truly matters are the dozen or so games you recommend, or rather, just a few.
"From the current perspective, STEAM will also adopt EPIC's strategy, but their gameplay will likely change."

At this point, Chu Chen wrote several Steam IPs on the whiteboard.
"STEAM is very likely to use its own creations to make empty promises."

Then, Chu Chen wrote down the percentage of profit.

"As for the commission, I don't think STEAM will make any changes, but they will probably describe a bunch of support programs for developers at the press conference to cover up the high commission."

"Of course, it's also possible that Steam won't even mention the commission rate."

(End of this chapter)