Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 600 Official Platform
Before today, Tencent didn't need to answer this question, and even now, with the explosive growth of StarCraft games, Tencent still doesn't need to answer such a question.

Before today, Tencent didn't feel a generational gap with the vast array of games available on StarCraft.

But after today, Tencent will have to answer another question: if StarCraft really makes these games, can Tencent, which cannot make such games, still maintain its position as the number one in China?

Zhao Ming didn't know the answer to this question, or even how to answer it.

~~~
Just like the narrative mood of the Black Myth PV, the entire StarCraft Games pre-show press conference, from the Star Core bilogy to The Wandering Earth, to a series of clips, and finally Black Myth: Wukong...

It can be said that step by step, it completely ignited the emotions of players worldwide.

This feeling, along with the passage of time, reached noon in China.

It started to get more and more intense, and the trending topics list on Weibo was almost completely dominated by the Starry Night pre-show press conference.

Meanwhile, in a university cafeteria in China.

At exactly 12 noon, the cafeteria was bustling with activity, the steam mingling with the aroma of food. Students carried their trays, searching for empty seats, while others scrolled through their phones.

The old television set hanging in the center of the cafeteria was broadcasting CCTV's midday news on time.

The female anchor's clear and articulate voice went unnoticed in the noisy cafeteria. It was more like white noise than news, as most students remained engrossed in their food and phone screens.

"The following is a cultural news report: The pre-show press conference held today at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles by 48 Chinese game companies, including StarCraft Games, has generated a strong response from gamers worldwide..."

"...The press conference announced several new works based on traditional Chinese culture and science fiction themes, including 'The Wandering Earth,' based on the novel by renowned Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin, and 'Star Core,' a large-scale game independently developed by StarCraft."

At first, not many people noticed the sound coming from the television.

"Huh??? Games??? Haozi, look, isn't there a report about games on TV?"

A boy wearing black-rimmed glasses, who was engrossed in picking at the braised eggplant, suddenly looked up and nudged the person next to him.

"Are you crazy? How could they possibly broadcast games on the midday news?"

The guy next to me, who was scrolling through short videos, didn't even look up. But at that moment, more and more people in the cafeteria noticed that the TV was showing game news, and before they knew it, the noise had decreased significantly.

The boy watching the video also noticed this and looked up.

"Wait, holy crap, no, this is actually a game report!?"

As expected, on the screen, the female anchor, with her dignified face, announced in a clear and articulate voice: "...The trailer for the game 'Black Myth: Wukong,' with its exquisite production and unique Eastern aesthetics, has won high praise from overseas media and players..."

The scenes switch at opportune moments, lasting only a few seconds, but each frame flashes by: the comical sight of the Earth God emerging from the ground, the sanctimonious yet sinister appearance of Ling Xuzi, and the arrogant grin of the monkey carrying a stick.

"Holy crap! It's actually on the news!?"

In fact, it wasn't just on CCTV news; if you follow social media, you'll find that Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, and a whole host of other official media outlets have also published related news on their internet platforms.

Xinhua News Agency: This is a cultural confidence rooted in our blood, and a perfect combination of technological prowess and imagination. We look forward to @StarryGames bringing us and the world a true Eastern mythology. #BlackMythWukong#

[People's Daily Online: Drawing strength from the classics and reshaping legends with modern technology, Chinese science fiction can also be global science fiction. #StarrySkyE3Exhibition#]

Besides Weibo, Bilibili has also been completely overrun.

When countless users opened the homepage and saw that the avatars of the national teams they followed, such as "CCTV News," "Guan Video," and "Xiao Tuanzi," all had red dots lit up in the upper right corner, and these were mostly news items related to the StarCraft E3 pre-show press conference, they momentarily felt like they had entered the wrong website.

"Holy crap! Did I see that right? The CCTV itself is involved?"

"Impressive! That's what an international superstar is all about! (Leans back in tactical fashion)"

"Even though I don't play games, I'm really excited watching this and I'm already planning to build a PC. Does anyone have a configuration list?"

For a long time, there has been a prevailing view in China's cultural circles that the reason why Chinese culture has failed to go global is because the content is not good enough and the stories are not told well enough.

This statement isn't wrong, but it's only half right.

On the other hand, the harsher reality is that the current global landscape of cultural dissemination has never been an open and free arena.

No matter how well your film is made, without a global distribution network, a theater alliance that can influence screenings, or endorsements from influential media and film critics, it can only circulate within its own small territory.

Occasionally, one or two works may emerge by winning awards at international film festivals, but they are merely a rare and beautiful flower in someone else's garden, unable to cause any ripples.

This is why it's difficult for domestic TV dramas and movies to go global.

This is also why there is such fear of TikTok overseas, because this channel is not controlled by the West.

This is why the official authorities began to value games in the previous life and in this timeline, because among all forms of cultural products, games have the lowest barrier to entry for going global.

Films and television series face deeply entrenched barriers in distribution channels. Music is hampered by language and stylistic differences. And for literature, achieving "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance" in translation is even more challenging.

But games are different.

First, the core distribution channel for games is digital platforms.

Whether it's StarCraft's own PC platform, mobile phone, or console, they are essentially all open global marketplaces.

This is evident in StarTap, which wasn't initially available on the Google Play Store; its initial installations relied entirely on player sharing.

The same applies to TikTok. In the past, the United States said it would ban TikTok, but in fact, without the Great Firewall of China, blocking TikTok is technically impossible in the United States.

Therefore, in the gaming industry...

As long as your product quality is excellent, you can sell your game to almost any corner of the world.

Secondly, another advantage of games is their immersive experience.

A AAA game can easily take players fifty hours or more to play, and hundreds of hours is the norm.

During these hundreds of hours, players are not "watching" a story, but "living" a world.

Following its predecessor, Black Myth, many foreigners gained an understanding of Chinese culture, and many began to look forward to new single-player games from China. This is the charm of games.

This is why domestic official media held a send-off ceremony for Xingchen before the start of E3, and also why, at this moment, after seeing the results achieved by Xingchen.

The reason why I started personally supporting Xingchen.

(End of this chapter)