Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 591 Double Blow
The two lines of text, like two muffled blows, struck the hearts of tens of thousands of spectators at the scene.

An eerie silence fell over the noisy venue for several seconds, followed by an uproar, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured into boiling oil.

"What do you mean?"

"Game and Movie? Is that what you mean?"

"Simultaneous release? Does that mean the game and the movie will be released together?"

Inside the venue, people whispered among themselves, their faces filled with confusion and speculation.

At this point in time, the movie "The Wandering Earth" has not yet started a full-scale promotional campaign. Although it will accept some media interviews, most people may not even know that there is a movie called "The Wandering Earth".

Therefore, when this subtitle appears on the screen.

Everyone assumed that Xingchen was making a movie, which led to a lot of questions.

Actually, Guo Fan was initially hesitant about whether to do the film's promotion and distribution here, since there were still more than half a year before the official release.

A typical movie usually gets its first buzz three months before its release, then enters an intensive promotional period about a month before its premiere, and reaches its promotional peak in the last 1-2 weeks before the premiere.

The timing is too early now.

Ultimately, however, Guo Fan and the other investors in the film all believed that this was a rare window of opportunity, especially since Xingchen was also an investor.

So, while everyone was filled with question marks...

"Om-"

A deep, muffled roar came from the speakers, seemingly emanating from the depths of the earth. The large, dark screen suddenly lit up.

It's not game footage, it's not CG.

Instead, it was a ruin covered in ice and snow.

The camera slowly pans across the scene, revealing the outline of a familiar tower-like building faintly visible in the snowstorm. The spire is broken, and the entire tower is covered with icicles, appearing lonely and tragic against the backdrop of the apocalypse.

It is the Oriental Pearl Tower.

In the domestic live stream, the chat, which had been fiercely debating just moments before, suddenly froze in an eerie silence.

Then, the screen switches.

A gigantic transport vehicle, with a menacing appearance and taller than a two-story building, charged wildly across the icy plains, its tracks crushing through thick ice and kicking up clouds of snow. From the front of the vehicle, one could see the endless ice plains and storms ahead, creating an overwhelming sense of a savage, post-apocalyptic road movie.

The scene cuts again.

A man wearing a heavy exoskeleton suit suddenly pushed open his helmet visor, revealing a weathered yet incredibly resolute face. Behind him, a blue beam of light shot into the sky.

The next shot is from a perspective overlooking from space.

The massive Jupiter occupies half the screen, its iconic Great Red Spot resembling a cold, giant eye. Tiny Earth, trailing a long, blue tail, is hurtling towards this gas giant at a resolute angle.

Land and timber delivery!

Finally, the image freezes on a line of large, blood-red characters.

The Wandering Earth

Then, there's the logo of China Film Co., Ltd., and several other film production companies. The footage lasts for about thirty seconds, with no dialogue, only increasingly tense background music and stunning camera cuts.

When the final logo for the movie "The Wandering Earth" appeared.

"WOW—! Cool!" The European and American players in the venue erupted in amazement and cheers.

In their opinion, the promotional video was really cool.

Of course, it only looks cool; for most Western gamers, this movie trailer is more like a "surprise bonus."

However, domestically...

This reaction is somewhat different because the movie PV for "The Wandering Earth" presents a completely "unfamiliar" feel.

Before the release of the movie "The Wandering Earth," many Chinese people didn't believe the final film would live up to the trailer's quality; most considered it "trailer fraud."

why?
It's because in China, before "The Wandering Earth," there were no real science fiction films, just like before "Black Myth," there was no concept of domestic AAA films.

How can you convince the audience that you are the first to do something that doesn't exist?
Very difficult.

It is difficult, but not entirely impossible.

Upon closer examination, the simulation management, city building, automated production lines, and post-apocalyptic survival elements showcased in StarCraft's "The Wandering Earth" are actually areas that have been almost entirely absent from the domestic gaming industry.

But once the PV was released, almost all the players were excited, crowding around the pie, cheering and shouting how delicious it was.

This is the sense of trust that the Starry Sky brand has built upon.

In addition, the timing of the Wandering Earth movie was also very appropriate, as it came at the perfect moment when players' emotions were completely ignited, and their excitement for the game extended from the game's PV to the movie trailer.

At almost the same time, major game forums and social media in China were flooded with posts about "The Wandering Earth".

Games and movies, two fields that don't actually have much connection in China, have created a synergistic effect at this moment, with 1+1 being greater than 2, forming a hybrid gimmick.

The impact of this hybrid gimmick is not limited to China, but has also resonated in Japan.

Inside a typical studio apartment in Tokyo.

Unlike the quiet streets in the early morning, a storm is brewing in this studio apartment.

"—Siguni! This is absolutely a masterpiece! Absolutely!"

A young man with black-rimmed glasses and a somewhat unruly hairstyle was shouting into the microphone. His name was Kenichi Sato, a game streamer with some fame on YouTube and one of the most loyal fans of Starry Night Games.

This can be seen from the simple and direct title of his live stream: "[Starry Night Launch Event! Witness the Birth of a Masterpiece!]"

In addition, the bookshelves behind him were filled with all sorts of Starry Night merchandise.

Kenichi Sato's live-streaming style is heavily influenced by the Japanese variety show "Reaction Gei".

Simply put, he reacts intensely and exaggeratedly to everything in order to stir up the audience's emotions. He had this flamboyant style before he encountered Star Game.

However, the effect was not very good.

Until he started broadcasting Starry Night games, Kenichi Sato quickly discovered that many fans who liked Starry Night games really enjoyed this kind of thing.

Furthermore, after FGO, Hoshino's influence in Japan grew, and the number of players increased. As a result, Kenichi Sato gradually changed from broadcasting everything to broadcasting Hoshino's games.

Just minutes earlier, when a traffic jam scene appeared in the promotional video for "The Wandering Earth," he laughed so hard he almost fell off his gaming chair.

When the image of Earth traveling through space with a blue trail of flame appeared, he stood up excitedly and shouted.

"Wow!!! Amazing!!! Has the whole Earth turned into a spaceship?! Wow~~~~~"

(End of this chapter)