My game is depressing worldwide.

The afternoon of the day after the selection ceremony.

Mr. Meng remained holed up in his bedroom with the curtains drawn, like a mole, showing no intention of getting out of bed.

These past two days he's been living in a daze, in utter darkness.

That was a huge blow.

"How could going to the moon win an award? That doesn't make sense..."

He didn't even dare to look at his own group chat.

It's a mixed bag of people anyway, and who knows how many are waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

What you fear most is what happens.

Ding-dong, ding-dong ding-dong.

Several messages popped up in succession.

Someone in the group was tagging him, and not just one.

Mr. Xiao Meng took a deep breath, picked up his phone, and opened it.

Then I sat up with a start.

"An official announcement?!"

Upon seeing those four large characters, Mr. Xiao Meng's heart sank.

I clicked on it with trembling hands.

"Recently, there have been online rumors about 'To the Moon,' which are debunked as follows..."

Debunking rumors isn't scary; what's truly terrifying is... the mention of his Pixiv ID.

Seeing this, Mr. Xiao Meng felt utterly despondent and lay down with his eyes closed, like a corpse.

I dared not open my eyes, hoping it was just my imagination.

After making so many videos, an official announcement brought him back to reality.

Not only that, the QQ group was in an uproar.

[Hilarious! Mr. Dog, come out and keep barking! Don't you like spreading rumors?]

[Failed to create an account, might as well give up]

[Dancing and taking photos on a grave]

Wait, what about my account?!

Mr. Xiao Meng seemed to remember something and quickly jumped up to turn on his computer.

Account Violation Notice: Your account has been banned for 3650 days due to violations of relevant laws and regulations. During the ban period, you will be unable to use any functions.

"It's over, it's all over." Mr. Xiao Meng looked ashen-faced.

The next second, the phone started buzzing.

After the call connected, a serious voice came through.

"Hello, are you Mr. Meng Guanting? Or Mr. Xiao Meng (Pilizhan ID)?"

"It's me." Mr. Xiao Meng swallowed hard.

"Lincheng Public Security Bureau, you can call me Officer Liu, badge number xxxxxx. We have a case that requires your assistance in the investigation..."

Mr. Meng's mind went completely blank.

Oh no, is my career as a content creator about to end just as it's beginning?

This time, they really kicked a hornet's nest.

...

Tianshuo Network Technology.

Snapped!

Wang Hongguang slammed his phone on the table, asking incredulously, "President Zheng, what do you mean by this?!"

On the phone screen was a notification from Tianshuo Entertainment.

The blood-stained lines above foreshadowed his fate.

Zheng Yanbin sat behind his desk, glanced at his phone screen, and sighed, "Normally, no one cares about public opinion online. But since 'To the Moon' won an award, the Game Committee won't allow such baseless slander. So, we have no choice but to have you leave Tianshuo temporarily to prevent the fire from spreading to the company."

"Leave? Leave?!" Wang Hongguang trembled with rage. "Use public opinion to crush the mental hospital's studio, and then persuade Shen Qingtu to come back when her career is tarnished—you agreed to that!"

"Wang, watch your words!" Zheng Yanbin's voice was devoid of any emotion. "I did tell you to persuade Shen Qingtu to come back, but I didn't tell you to use illegal methods."

Wang Hongguang gritted his teeth, finally letting out a long sigh of relief, and said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Yes, yes, it's my fault for not doing a good job."

"Old Wang, just leave gracefully."

Wang Hongguang didn't say anything and walked straight outside.

He paused when he reached the door.

"Now I finally understand why Shen Qingtu would rather stay in the small workshop than be persuaded to come back." He sneered and glanced back. "Sometimes, the producers of Tianshuo's flagship second-generation products are really not as good as a junior college student."

After saying that, he walked outside without lingering.

Zheng Yanbin remained unmoved by the provocation, leaning back in his chair and staring at the office ceiling.

"A mental hospital workshop? Chen Xuan? Sigh, he's really giving me a lot of trouble."

"There are so many excellent programs across the country, why are you trying to poach my talent?"

...

...

night.

A belated victory celebration banquet.

"Cheers!"

Five glasses clinked together; some contained fruit juice, others wheat juice.

After a series of heavy drinks, Zhou Qian wiped his mouth and laughed, "With the online public opinion storming around so much recently, I thought our new project was going to fail."

Chen Xuan chuckled and said, "This is nothing. You haven't even experienced the pace of the secondary market yet."

Shen Qingtu nodded in agreement.

"No way, it's even more exaggerated than that?" Zhou Qian scratched his head.

"More than ten times exaggerated."

Buy-to-play single-player games are really not competitors. At most, they only have a little over 100 hours of gameplay. Players who like a certain type of game will only complain that there aren't enough new games or that they aren't good enough.

This is different from games with sustainable operation.

Players don't have time to play a second game once they've played one, so criticism and smear campaigns have never disappeared since the birth of video games.

The most classic example is the various Warcraft killers in the MMORPG field, who had "hoping you die" written all over their faces.

Yu Xiaoming glanced around somewhat uncomfortably and asked in a low voice, "Dad, what are you getting involved in our studio's get-together?"

"What are you saying? Shouldn't we congratulate each other on a collaborative project?" Yu Hai glared at his son with exasperation, then greeted him warmly, "Xiao Chen, have you encountered any problems with the development of 'Invisible Guardian' lately? Tell me! I'll definitely help you solve them."

Chen Xuan chuckled inwardly.

No wonder they say you should become famous as early as possible.

The difference in treatment between someone who has won an award and someone who has not is like night and day.

After the public outcry subsided, the mental hospital studio actually benefited from the misfortune and gained widespread fame.

Although he hadn't eaten yet, Chen Xuan had already received two promises over the phone.

First, public opinion issues can be resolved, and very quickly.

Those who should be punished should have their titles revoked, and those who should be dismissed should be dismissed.

Secondly, although "The Invisible Guardian" is a spy-themed game and somewhat sensitive, it has been promised that the game license will not affect its release.

Businessmen are always the most sensitive to market trends. Yu Hai knew that the studio was having a celebration banquet today, so he shamelessly came to freeload.

Since that's the case, Chen Xuan doesn't intend to be polite with him.

What's the point of winning awards?

Does it look good?

It's a benefit!

"To be honest, Mr. Yu, there are indeed some difficulties."

"I told you not to call me 'President Yu,' it's too formal. Just call me 'Uncle.'" Yu Hai's voice was a little softer. "Is the assistant director throwing his weight around with you? Or are the actors being disobedient? Or, Xiao Chen, have you found the right actors?"

"That's not necessary. The crew is working together very well." Chen Xuan paused for a moment. "However, due to cost constraints, there's no money to make some game systems, and we can't find any reliable voice actors."

Yes, it costs money!

Saying anything else is pointless.

Yu Hai hesitated for a while, his mind racing with calculations.

He knew all too well that 500 million was a bit low for the game's development cost.

But in his heart, he was reluctant to invest too much in a completely new track.

There will be a sense of powerlessness, a feeling of being unable to control the situation.

"Hmm...then I'll invest another 200 million."

"Not enough, we need to invest at least another 500 million." Chen Xuan shook his head.

Yu Hai looked embarrassed.

Before he could even think about how to bargain, Zhou Qian, his face already flushed from the wheat juice, bluntly said, "President Yu, Brother Xuan has already signed an agreement with unlimited joint liability, what are you still afraid of?"

After thinking about it for a while...

Yu Hai gritted his teeth: "500 it is. Where do you plan to use this additional investment?"

"First, we can add more side stories and more endings. Second, we can hire better voice actors to improve the audiovisual effects. Third, we can add a 'listen to echo' system."

As soon as he said this, everyone present looked at him.

"A listening echo system? What's that?"

It's meant to torment players and break their defense.

But that's definitely not how it should be said, so Chen Xuan replied meaningfully, "Of course, it's a system that increases the player's sense of immersion in the game, while also providing clues to the correct route after a bad ending."