Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

Just as Jiang Chang began to feel anxious.

The first real visitor appeared.

He was wearing black-rimmed glasses.

A young man wearing a T-shirt with images from The Legend of Zelda.

He was originally heading towards the Nintendo booth.

But when I passed by the Journey Technology booth...

My eyes were drawn to the grass cubes on the poster.

"Wait... is this Minecraft?"

He approached the booth.

His voice was filled with unbelievable excitement.

"Are you the development team behind Minecraft?"

"Yes!"

Jiang Chang answered immediately.

We are ZhengTu Technology.

The company that developed Minecraft.

"Oh my god! I absolutely love this game!"

The young man said excitedly.

"I've played for hundreds of hours!"

What are you doing here?

I mean at E3?

"This is our first time exhibiting this year."

Lu Chen smiled and handed over a brochure.

"Besides Minecraft"

We also have a new game we'd like to showcase.

"A new game?"

The young people's attention was immediately drawn.

"Can I try?"

"certainly."

Jiang Chang replied immediately.

"This game is called 'Famine'."

It's a survival adventure game...

The young people were immediately attracted.

He sat down at the demo station.

Jiang Chang began explaining the basic controls of the game.

Gather resources, craft tools, and deal with the darkness and monsters.

He put on his headphones, picked up his phone, and entered the world of "Famine".

ten minutes later,

His expression changed from curiosity to focus.

The focus turned into excitement.

"This art style is so unique!"

It's like a hand-drawn dark fairy tale!

"I need to collect twigs and flint."

Craft an axe?

Oh, so now we can cut down trees.

"It's getting dark! I need fire!"

Quick, quick, gather some branches!

We did it! We survived the first night!

"What is this? A spider?"

The battle system is as follows:

It's a bit difficult, but very interesting!

"Haha! This game is so much fun!"

His laughter attracted the attention of several passersby.

gradually,

Five or six people gathered in front of the booth of Journey Technology.

Someone recognized it as Minecraft.

Some people are drawn to the unique art style of "Famine".

Some people were also curiously fiddling with the Conquer Online 1 mobile phone.

The all-glass body and metal frame design was truly stunning in 2009.

"This phone runs games so smoothly."

"ZUI system? Never heard of it, but the pull-down notification bar design is very practical."

"How much? 1999 yuan? That's less than 300 US dollars? That's insane!"

Jiang Chang moved among several testers.

Answer questions and demonstrate techniques.

Susie was handing out brochures and souvenirs.

Wu Zhixuan then chatted with several players who were interested in game development about the details of the project.

Around 11 a.m.

A middle-aged man wearing a gray polo shirt and a media pass stopped in front of the booth.

He looked at the poster carefully for a while.

After observing the players' reactions for a few more minutes, he stepped forward.

"Zhengtu Technology?"

He looked at Lu Chen.

"Did you develop Plants vs. Zombies?"

"Yes."

Lu Chen nodded.

"I am Lu Chen, the founder of ZhengTu Technology."

John Davis, IGN editor.

He extended his hand and shook hands with Lu Chen.

We gave Plants vs. Zombies a score of 9.6.

That was one of the best games I reviewed last year.

"Thanks."

Lu Chen smiled and said,

"That's thanks to the team."

"Is this your new game?"

John pointed to the book "Famine" on his phone screen.

"Yes, it's a survival adventure game, and it's still in development."

"Can I try it?"

"certainly!"

Jiang Chang warmly invited John to try it out.

John took the Journey 1 phone and examined it carefully.

"This design is great, what are the specifications?"

"3.5-inch screen, Snapdragon S1 processor, ZUI customized system."

Lu Chen gave a brief introduction.

John nodded and opened "Famine".

As a senior game editor.

He picks it up much faster than the average player.

He quickly gathered resources.

Prioritize making axes and pickaxes.

Then start exploring the map.

On the first night, he set up a simple camp and lit a campfire.

The next day, he took food and a manuscript and went to break rocks, where he obtained several pieces of gold.

On the third day, he created a scientific machine and unlocked more advanced items.

On the sixth day, John was attacked by a swarm of spiders while exploring the forest.

This was his first death.

"This game..."

John put down his phone, his eyes gleaming.

"It's cleverly designed."

Resource management, risk exploration, and survival pressure.

It is very well balanced in all aspects.

Moreover, this hand-drawn art style is highly distinctive.

"How do you feel?" Jiang Chang asked nervously.

"It has great potential."

John said earnestly.

"It has more depth than most survival games on the market."

A character's mental breakdown can lead to hallucinations.

This kind of psychological survival pressure is novel.

and,

Can a mobile phone run such a complex game?

It felt pretty smooth when I played it just now.

"We've specifically optimized it for mobile devices."

Lu Chen explained.

"The touchscreen operation has also been redesigned to be as intuitive as possible."

"I want to write a report."

John took out his notebook.

Could you please provide a detailed introduction to the development team and design philosophy?

And then there's this phone, the Conquer Online 1.

"Was it developed independently by you?"

For the next half hour,

Lu Chen and Jiang Chang gave John a detailed introduction to the development history and game design philosophy of Journey Technology.

It also introduced the development story of Conquer Online 1.

John took careful notes.

He would occasionally ask some professional questions.

"So you started with mobile games."

Should we start working on the hardware now?

He was somewhat surprised.

"That's quite a leap."

"We believe that,"

The best user experience can only be provided through a combination of hardware and software.

Lu Chen said.

"interesting."

John closed his notebook.

The report will be released tomorrow.

Additionally, after E3,

We want to do an in-depth review of "Famine".

Do you have a more complete version?

"some,

I can send it to you when I get back to the hotel.

Jiang Chang immediately agreed.

"Very good."

John handed over his business card.

"Stay connected,

By the way, the exhibition has two more days left.

Best of luck to you.

After seeing John off, Jiang Chang was so excited he almost jumped up.

"IGN! They're going to report on us!"

"Calm down."

Lu Chen was also happy.

But he appeared more composed.

"This is only the first day."

The next two days

We might get more attention from the media and gamers.

in the afternoon,

The number of visitors to the Journey Technology booth continued to increase.

Some players who have experienced the game.

They even proactively recommend it to passersby.

"You absolutely have to try Famine, it's super fun!"

"Minecraft is good too!"

"This phone has a great design and costs less than $300, it's incredibly cost-effective!"

When the museum closes at 6 p.m.

A small queue had formed in front of the Journey Technology booth.

The eight demo machines were running almost non-stop.

If the phone battery dies, just switch to another one.

As the closing music played, a few players lingered, reluctant to leave.

"Will you come again tomorrow?"

A young man in his early twenties asked.

"Of course, the exhibition still has two days left."

Jiang Chang laughed.

"Then I'll come earlier tomorrow!"

I've only lived for nine days, I'm going to challenge myself to live for ten!