My game is depressing worldwide.

Tianshuo Network Technology.

Zheng Yanbin sat in his office, looking irritable, and listlessly scrolled through web pages.

Some are news pages from game portal websites, some are the latest industry news, and some are the latest policy announcements from the Game Industry Committee.

"Damn it, why is everything going so badly this year?!"

Since Shen Qingtu left Tianshuo, the project has encountered considerable problems.

Even though more than half a year has passed, the successor is barely able to keep up.

However, the launch time was much later than expected.

Tianshuo is a listed company.

Every project's initiation and launch must be done in the interest of financial reports and for the benefit of shareholders.

A sudden delay in the release of a game could make the quarterly financial report look very bad.

Zheng Yanbin, as the producer, is the main scapegoat, or rather... the blame should have been placed on him from the start.

This flagship sequel project is codenamed "S1" within the company, and its tentative name is "Starry Night".

The project was highly anticipated from the very beginning.

If we really can't go live on time...

It seems that my good days at Tianshuo are coming to an end.

"Shen Qingtu... I've already apologized to you, what more do you want? Do you even know how much trouble you've caused the project?!"

Muttering a curse under his breath, Zheng Yanbin anxiously clicked on Pixiv's live stream and randomly entered a live stream called "Gaining Weight After Waking Up".

This is a girl wearing a JK skirt and a mask, so you can't see her face, but she has a very nice voice.

She raised her hand and asked, "Mr. Chen, how about you change the bet? Your request is too simple—just download a desktop pet game and leave it running for a week? I feel like we're taking advantage of you."

A burst of good-natured laughter erupted around them.

Zheng Yanbin's attention lingered for a few seconds. So many live streamers? What are they doing?

Moreover, Mr. Chen?

Which Mr. Chen?

Then he heard a strange young voice.

"Of course, this is a gentleman's agreement, with no binding measures, and we will not supervise whether you abide by it."

Let's take a look at the name of the live stream room.

[Go try out Asylum Studios' new game, Outlast]

Upon seeing this name, Zheng Yanbin's face darkened.

"So it's... Chen Xuan, the CEO who poached me? Good, good."

I'm so angry I could grind my teeth.

But at the same time, he was also puzzled.

No, it hasn't been that long since the release of Go to the Moon, has it?

The new game is released so quickly?

"The Madhouse Studio, your project is going very smoothly," Zheng Yanbin said with a cold face.

After thinking about it, I decided not to turn off the live stream and continued watching the content.

Chen Xuan's voice continued to come through the speakers in the live broadcast room.

"That concludes the game introductions for *Desktop Battle* and *Outlast*. By the way, there are surprise rewards for playing *Desktop Battle* for over a week, so stay tuned. That ends today's demo event. Asylum Studios and DeepVision Technology have prepared a small gift for you all; we hope you enjoyed it."

At this moment, "Waking Up and Getting Fat" quickly raised his hand and said, "President Chen! Given the speed at which Asylum Studio releases new works, has the next installment of 'Escape' already entered the development stage? Can you reveal some information?"

"This will be kept confidential for now."

"What type? Can you at least give me a hint?"

"Hmm... It will be a secondary game project with a relatively long development time, and it is expected to be launched and released at the end of the first quarter of next year."

Zheng Yanbin was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

Isn't this roughly the same time as the launch date of Tianshuo's flagship second game, "Starry Night"?

Was there a car crash?

Zheng Yanbin pondered for a moment.

"Ha. So you're trying to use streamers to promote your game because your previous projects were small-scale? But have you considered that streamers sometimes have no choice in the matter?"

Zheng Yanbin stroked his chin with interest.

For small and medium-sized studios, a break in the funding chain is devastating.

Unlike large companies, they don't have a huge fan base and therefore lack the resilience to withstand pressure.

Sometimes, the development cost of a new work depends entirely on the success of the previous work.

"If you just shut down these streamers' promotion of 'Outlast' and block your financing channels, wouldn't you be furious?"

Zheng Yanbin sighed softly.

Why do you have to make things difficult for Tian Shuo? What's your point?

Sooner or later, he'll get himself into big trouble.

If taking in Tian Shuo's discarded generals and enabling you to grow stronger...

That day, Shuo had already been dug up and riddled with holes.

When it comes to major partners of live streaming platforms, Tianshuo is currently far more important than Madhouse Studio.

It's important to know that Tianshuo is one of the largest publishers in China, and countless games rely on Tianshuo's channels for promotion and distribution every year.

Presumably, the heads of the game sections on these platforms wouldn't mind giving them a little face.

"You poach my people, and now you want to be a second-rate player too? You want to humiliate me and challenge me? Do you even deserve it?"

Zheng Yanbin gritted his teeth as he thought about the poor development progress.

Then he picked up his phone and made a call.

...

...

Old Wei's legs were trembling.

He staggered off the trial recliner, leaning against the wall, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

That's fucking terrifying...

The full version of the game, of course, cannot be streamed live.

However, you can record footage.

Once the game is released, we can release a high-quality gameplay video as soon as possible.

Old Wei obviously didn't beat the game; that was practically impossible.

As for completing the game via live stream?

Old Wei was having second thoughts.

That's terrifying...

By this time, the media interview session had ended, and many colleagues with whom he had a good relationship sent him WeChat messages before leaving.

Old Wei walked a short distance away, supporting himself against the wall, when he heard a sound behind him.

"Brother Wei! You're absolutely amazing!" He Xiangsong exclaimed, his face full of envy and admiration. "I heard you played the full version of the game?"

"Yes, yes."

"As expected of a professional streamer, you're really amazing! Brother Wei, you must have performed exceptionally well during the trial to be selected to play the full version, right?" He Xiangsong said with starry eyes.

Old Wei's lips twitched.

Can I say it's because I have a sharp tongue...?

Because this mouth has suffered so much.

Being too proud to admit your mistakes is definitely a recipe for disaster.

Just as I was wondering whether to tell the truth, Chen Xuan, who had finished the interview, came out of the demo room and, upon hearing this, replied with a smile, "Of course, Lao Wei is our Madhouse Studio's ace demo tester."

He Xiangsong nodded in admiration: "I knew it! A game so perfectly suited to the realities of Western China—someone with Wei Ge's discerning taste would never miss it. Right, Wei Ge? You'll be streaming yourself playing through it, right?"

Old Wei's face darkened.

"Yes, of course."

[Detected a +1 defense threshold from Lao Wei's Game Talk]

Chen Xuan thought for a moment, wondering if he should help Lao Wei out of this predicament.

After all, he was a benefactor to the studio; without him, the first two games wouldn't have performed so well.

Don't break my virtual pet.

But next second.

He Xiangsong touched his nose, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "President Chen, I'd like to ask you for an authorization, is that alright?"

"Authorization? About what?"

"I'm an international student at Western University. I want to translate Lao Wei's 'Escape' live stream into English and repost it to my personal account on my internet, but they're very strict about copyright authorization there."

He Xiangsong asked with some curiosity, "President Chen, I'm actually very curious, how did you create a game with such a strong Xida flavor? This game will definitely be popular among players there."

Then, He Xiangsong briefly recounted his experiences at Xida University.

Old Wei was stunned for a while.

Human experimentation, massacres, religion, human pigs...

No, these things actually exist at Xida University?

Chen Xuan also looked puzzled.

"Your name at Western University isn't Alex, is it?"

"Of course not... Is there a problem?" He Xiangsong asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's alright." Chen Xuan shook his head. "I can authorize it, or rather, I'd love to."