Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 580 E3 is here
Time flies, and it's already May 12th.

The second day of E3.

For gamers worldwide, the past 24 hours have been even more exciting than the Lunar New Year.

On May 11, Microsoft's pre-show press conference went straight into overdrive.

A glimpse of Halo Infinite, gameplay footage of Gears 5, and the changing seasons of Forza Horizon 4 – each one more exciting than the last.

Not to mention, CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 released a brand new trailer on Microsoft's stage, instantly igniting the entire internet.

Following closely behind, Square Enix (SE) in the afternoon and Ubisoft in the evening were equally formidable.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VII Remake – each of these names is enough to drive fans wild.

Ubisoft has also presented the grand world of Beyond Good & Evil 2, the new battlefield of The Division 2, and the highly anticipated sequel Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which has garnered a lot of attention after the huge success of Assassin's Creed Origins.

Various promotional videos were flying around, and the entire gaming industry was immersed in a carnival atmosphere. Major game developers were battling it out, while players enjoyed this feast.

Against this backdrop of such a fierce competition among top talents, the time came to 10 a.m. the next day, for Sony's pre-show press conference.

The scene of Sony's press conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Chen Mo and Kong Yao, two old acquaintances, ran into each other again. As editors of GamerSky and 1717 respectively, they had dealt with each other quite a few times. However, both of them seemed a bit distracted at Sony's press conference.

Chen Mo was slightly better off, but Kong Yao, amidst the cheers of the players present, started checking the program and interview outline for the afternoon's Starry Night press conference.

It's not that Sony's press conference wasn't impressive enough, but rather that the atmosphere in China was already completely dominated by the stars.

After yesterday's Microsoft press conference, the hottest topic wasn't the new Halo game, Gears of War, or Keanu Reeves.

Instead, a large number of people asked why StarCraft hadn't released a game.

Many people unfamiliar with E3 rules even brought this issue to the top of Weibo's trending topics.

Even so, this was the case with StarCraft, Bilibili, and Titok, who started extensively promoting the StarCraft pre-show press conference a week in advance and held a reservation lottery event.

While it might be a bit impolite to say it like that, for many casual gamers, E3 is synonymous with "the international press conference that StarCraft will be holding." If StarCraft doesn't take the stage, the press conference is essentially meaningless.

This is Xingchen's current popularity in China.

Besides the difference in popularity, another reason why the two didn't pay much attention to the Sony press conference was the time. Sony's press conference was held at 10:00 AM in Los Angeles, which is equivalent to 2:00 AM in China.

They had plenty of time to edit the news, and the Starry Night press conference was at 8 a.m. a few hours later. Although it was still early, it was a completely different kind of pressure compared to the early hours of the morning.

The relative importance of each is self-evident.

Of course, Chen Mo and Kong Yao still possessed basic media skills, and Sony on stage was actually putting in a lot of effort this time.

The screen displayed their trump card, The Last of Us Part II. Due to the explosive success of the original 13 years ago, this new film was naturally highly anticipated.

Moreover, the PV demo doesn't show the plot, but judging solely from the visuals, The Last of Us Part II is still pretty awesome.

Afterwards, the stunning art style of Ghost of Tsushima drew even more praise. Although the new Death Stranding film was still incomprehensible to many, it did not stop the cheers at the scene from rising one after another.

The game ended amidst the cheers of the players and the clatter of keyboards from the media reporters.

Chen Mo checked the time and was about to start packing his things when Kong Yao suddenly nudged him with his elbow.

"Holy crap! Look! What's that?!"

Chen Mo was about to close his laptop when he was nearly knocked unconscious by the sudden movement. He frowned, turned his head irritably, and looked in the direction Kong Yao was pointing. At that one glance, Chen Mo froze.

On the giant screen at the press conference, the Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) logo was slowly fading away, and in its place was a star logo that all domestic gamers were extremely familiar with.

Immediately afterwards, two logos appeared on the screen.

SONY x Starry Sky.

This is not just a simple appearance. It is obvious that although these are two logos, they have been coordinated in a certain artistic way to make them look harmonious.

"What the hell?"

"what's the situation?!"

"Am I seeing things? StarCraft and Sony have partnered?"

The players and media present were filled with questions.

Chen Mo and Kong Yao exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. StarCraft and Sony certainly had a collaboration, but the problem was that StarCraft had its own exhibition afterward.
Just as everyone's minds were filled with questions, Sean Rheden, the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment's US division, walked back to the center of the stage with a beaming smile.

"I know, I know, everyone thought it was over."

"But we believe that E3 is a feast for all players, and a true feast requires the finest delicacies."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"Over the past two years, a company from the East has brought countless surprises to players around the world with their passion and talent."

"Today, I am very honored to announce that PlayStation will be entering into a deep strategic partnership with StarCraft Games to bring more incredible experiences to our players."

The applause in the audience was enthusiastic, but for Chen Mo and Kong Yao, these words were just an appetizer. What Sean Ryden said next made them feel their scalp tingle.

"At the same time, I would also like to take this opportunity to remind all PlayStation players who are watching the live stream, as well as everyone here."

On stage, Sean made a gesture of looking at his watch, and then added a sentence.

"Please don't forget to tune in to StarCraft's E3 pre-show press conference in a few hours. Trust me, you definitely won't want to miss it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo was completely stunned.

What... what's going on here? Sony is advertising its StarCraft launch event at its own E3 press conference?

"Holy crap, this is some serious VIP treatment!"

Kong Yao finally couldn't hold back and muttered a curse under his breath, forgetting to press the shutter button on his camera.

In fact, the collaboration between StarCraft and Sony has been accelerating since the second half of last year, and that's why Sony mentioned StarCraft here.

One reason is that Sony did indeed make a lot of profit from its collaboration with StarCraft.

From signing the cooperation agreement in September 2017 to May of this year, Sony has fully realized how easy it is to make money in the anime and manga industry.

Games like FGO, Final Frontline, and Azur Lane, which have proven their earning power on mobile devices, have experienced some difficulties adapting to console platforms.

However, since they all have PC versions, adapting to large screens wasn't too difficult, and the revenue was quite good.

(End of this chapter)