Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Zhu Youxing sighed inwardly.

Some players are starting to treat the Battle.net platform itself as a game, and collecting enough games on the platform is considered an achievement.

Zhu Youxing remembers that he was similar back then. He would feel secretly pleased to have hundreds of games of various types in his inventory, and he felt that it was a very proud thing.

However, he gradually realized that adding too many junk games to his inventory was polluting his game collection. So he simply deleted those junk games one by one from his inventory account, out of sight, out of mind, which was like going back to square one.

"Boss, should I issue refunds to all these players?"

Zhu Youxing snapped out of his daze and said, "Let's put that aside for now. I want to know what you plan to do next. Will you continue to use this kind of target to increase the PC Battle.net's inventory?"

"No, of course not, absolutely not. I will follow your instructions and increase the size of the game review team so that our Battle.net platform can develop in the direction of high-quality products in the future."

"There's no need to excessively pursue high-quality games. I just hope that there won't be any more boring games that are just filler in the numbers in the future. As for other games that are boring in themselves but have complete content, there's no need to remove them, as long as they don't involve plagiarism or other bad behavior."

"Okay, I'll get on it right away. As for those players who have already purchased the games just to make up the numbers..."

Zhu Youxing pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's issue an announcement to these players, explaining to them exactly which games were just there to make up the numbers, so they have the right to know. The rest is up to them to decide whether to keep these games."

"Huh? Boss, I don't understand. These games are all terrible quality. Why would they want to keep them? If they knew these games were just filler trash, wouldn't they be angry?"

"Well... I can't explain it too clearly right now. Just do as I say, and don't worry about anything else."

"it is good."

Although Belair couldn't understand it, it was his boss's request, so he had no choice but to comply.

"Oh, by the way, the average quality of indie games hasn't been very good lately. Have you investigated the specific reasons?"

"I will investigate as soon as possible and try my best to give you an answer today."

"Okay, then I'll wait for your news."

Chapter 1093 Methods to Enhance Diversity

There are many reasons why the average quality of indie games is not high, but Zhuyouxing believes the biggest possibility is that game developers are currently facing a bottleneck in their development.

Industries will have their boom and bust times, which is perfectly normal.

However, if the decline is not curbed to a certain extent, it can lead to a vicious cycle.

It's like a restaurant that used to serve good food, but over time, perhaps people's tastes have changed, or the quality of the food has declined slightly, inevitably leading to a decrease in revenue.

Decreased revenue may lead to a decline in the quality of dishes, which in turn will result in fewer customers coming, and the quality will become even worse as revenue declines further.

If this continues, the restaurant will eventually have to close down.

To curb this behavior, simply improving quality is not enough; some unconventional methods are also needed.

It seems like there aren't many people in the indie game community who can come up with ingenious ideas these days.

People always want to move up in life; not everyone is willing to keep making indie games.

Those with talent will gradually be recruited by large companies, while indie games made by those without talent are relatively poor.

Those who can always stay true to themselves, only wanting to make good games, but not asking for any big rewards, are ultimately a minority.

The biggest characteristic of indie games should be their diversity, as they don't follow the conventional assembly line formula of large companies.

A few days later, Belair reported the reason he had found to Zhuyouxing.

The reason is pretty much the same as what Zhu Youxing had guessed before.

Good game developers were previously lured away by large-scale recruitment efforts by companies like Surrey Electronics and Mikeford.

That's why Mikefu and Surrey Electronics have been making frequent big moves lately, and they have indeed been getting more and more talent.

The consequence of this is that the indie game community has begun to shrink.

"President, the indie game scene is currently facing a talent gap. Only a few well-known indie game developers are still making their own games and releasing them on our platform. The others have either joined larger companies or are working towards that goal. Indie games may gradually disappear in the future."

Zhu Youxing shook his head: "It's impossible for it to disappear. Someone will always take its place, just like various independent films. It's just that it is indeed gradually shrinking now."

"So, President, are we just waiting for someone to gradually replace us?"

"Of course not. We need to take the initiative. Independent games are a very important part of the video game industry. This part cannot be lost or easily declined, otherwise the diversity of talent cannot be guaranteed."

People who come from regular schools with formal academic backgrounds tend to lose their creativity as they enter large companies.

For the sake of large corporations, they will do everything in their power to meet sales targets and make money at all costs. As for the diversity of video games? Sorry, that's not within their consideration.

"Is the video game development competition still being held recently?" Zhu Youxing asked.

"This event is still ongoing."

How large is it?

"Each competition has about three or four hundred participants."

Zhu Youxing smacked his lips: "It's a bit small."

Belair said, "What about increasing the prize money? Would that have an effect? ​​Would it get more people involved in the game's development?"

"Increasing the prize money won't have a significant effect. I hope to increase the diversity of indie game genres. Simply increasing the prize money won't do much good, but let's increase the prize money first. I'll think about other methods when I get back. By the way, when is our next game development competition?"

"There will be one in two weeks, in London."

"Okay, I'll be there in person then. I want to see for myself how everyone's games are doing."

"Boss, are you going to be a judge yourself? That should attract a lot of people."

Zhu Youxing said, "This can be considered a way to attract people indirectly. I need to think of other methods."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

Belair was very efficient; that same afternoon, Japan time, Yusei Electronic Entertainment's official platform released a news announcement about the next independent game development competition.

Game producer, president of Yuxing Electronic Entertainment, permanent honorary president of the World Federation of Video Game Developers, and a lifetime achievement in the history of the game industry.

Mr. Zhu Youxing will personally attend the independent game developer competition and serve as a judge to evaluate the games.

This has sparked quite a bit of discussion in the gaming community.

The presence of such a big name as Zhu Youxing is definitely big news. Some of the very ambitious independent game developers originally didn't want to go because they felt that such competitions were a waste of time.

But as soon as they heard that Zhu Youxing was coming in person, they immediately booked a flight to London.

In Japan, Yusei Electronics Entertainment also issued a separate announcement to domestic game developers.

Anyone with a history of independent game development can have a private plane arranged by Youxing Electronic Entertainment to travel to London to participate in the competition, with all round-trip travel expenses covered by Youxing Electronic Entertainment.

Even if you don't have independent game development experience, but have great ideas and creativity, you can still participate in this competition. Youxing Electronic Entertainment isn't short of money.

As for Zhu Youxing himself, he is currently staying at home, playing games while pondering matters related to the independent game competition.

Simply trying to discover more independent game developers through competitions is a bit difficult.

The scale of this competition is rather small, and the number of participants is not large.

There aren't many people who can actually develop games, but Zhuyouxing believes that people still have a strong desire to express themselves.

But how do we present these people's desire to express themselves?

By the way, we can further lower the barrier to game development, allowing more people who are eager to express themselves but lack production skills to have the opportunity to participate in game production.

This is a last resort.

Then there's the option to bring in game developers from large companies as well.

Issuing them special certification certificates would enhance the value of their resumes, making them more willing to participate in independent game developer competitions to boost their resumes, even if their sole purpose is to increase their chances of future employment.

However, this is only a temporary solution and does not address the root cause; indie games need diversification.

Click.

While Zhu Youxing was pondering, he accidentally pressed the wrong button on the controller, causing his character in the game to die instantly, resulting in a game over.

Zhu Youxing patiently started a new game.

In the distance, one could faintly hear the sounds of coaxing a child.

That was Mom taking care of the child in her daughter's room. Mom Takeyu Masako absolutely adored Takeyu Hoshi's daughter. She thought that professional nannies couldn't compare to her, and always let the nanny just stand by and watch, getting paid more than a million yen a month for nothing.

But the nanny was still very anxious, fearing that she would lose her job if things continued like this, so she tried her best to become more professional and assist Masako Takeyu as much as possible in taking care of the child.

"Zhuyou, you seem to have something on your mind."

Zhu Youcai came to Zhu Youxing's side and gently leaned against him.

Chapter 1094 What are some good ideas?

Can you tell me what's on your mind?

In the past, Zhu Youcai would never have asked such a question.

However, perhaps because she is now a mother, or perhaps because she has become more mature, she no longer has the cold demeanor she once had.

That's not right either. In front of outsiders, Zhu Youcai is still as cold and aloof as ever, and extremely strict.

She only behaves this way when she is in front of Zhu Youxing.

Zhu Youxing put down the controller, then hugged Zhu Youcai and told her about the headache he was having.

"Has the scale of indie game development shrunk? So, according to your logic, what if you used your alternate accounts to make a few more indie games and then generated explosive sales? Would that have an effect?"

Zhu Youxing said, "I have thought about this method, but it is probably not very reliable. One person's success cannot represent an industry. The games I make are all hits, but others have a clear understanding. They know their own strength, and they also know that it is impossible for them to make the same quality as top producers."

Bamboo Star initially started making indie games to show the future of video games to many people who were feeling lost.

To make more people realize that even grassroots developers can make money in the video game industry.

However, it would be difficult to attract more people by developing more independent games.

"Is that so..."

Zhu Youcai thought about it seriously, but after thinking for a long time, she still couldn't come up with a better solution.

Increasing prize money for game development competitions has an effect, but it's definitely not a great solution.

"Right now, I'm really thinking about the game developer competition that's in about ten days, and I want to make some changes starting with that."

"Then think it over carefully. What would you like to eat? I'll make it for you."

"How about a fried pork chop?"